


Karmotrine Dream

by lireside



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas fic, Cyberpunk Dystopia, Dystopia-Typical Angst, F/F, Found Family, Humor, I'm ditching FFVII's year-numbering convention because it's stupid, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 43,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28181259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lireside/pseuds/lireside
Summary: Shinra built Neo-Midgar on the ashes of the Promised Land. A century later, the city has devolved into a dystopian ruin, where criminal empires reign supreme and the masses struggle to survive. The citizens of Neo-Midgar, hoping for a better future, search for their salvation in the bottom of a glass. Tifa Lockhart, cyberpunk bartender, is eager to serve it to them. The drinks taste of love, friendship, and a tinge of rebellion.A story of unwavering hope in the face of adversity; of love found by pure chance; and of holiday cheer, unhampered by the state of the world.Based on VA-11 Hall-A: Cyperpunk Bartending Action. No prior experience with the game is necessary to enjoy this fic. Will update every evening (at 7 PM EST) until December 25th. Happy holidays!
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 43
Kudos: 65





	1. Cobalt Velvet

**Author's Note:**

> This fic shamelessly steals references. Yelp reviews, VA-11 Hall-A's own Steam reviews, Chuck Tingle book titles, local satire headlines — I've never written anything original in my life and I'm not about to start now.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two Adelhyde, three Flanergide, and five Karmotrine. Served on the rocks and mixed.
> 
> "It's like champagne served on a cup that had a bit of cola left."
> 
> Bubbly, classy, and burning.

Saturday, December 19th, 2108

> **The Midgar Mirage**
> 
> **Your local source for 100% unbiased news**
> 
> New economic adjustments spark potential emigration crisis
> 
> _Today, Rufus Shinra IV, head of the Shinra Electric Power Company, announced new economic adjustments for the city of Neo-Midgar, aimed at curbing inflation..._

Tifa looked up from her phone. "Do you ever wonder why they still call it the 'Electric Power Company' after all these years?"

Cloud shrugged. He stood in the kitchen across the room, making their lunch for the day (technically dinner, but both he and Tifa operated on bar time). The smell of burnt eggs permeated through their badly-ventilated apartment. "Same reason they keep calling the kids 'Rufus', I guess," he finally offered. "Tradition or some shit."

Made sense. Tifa turned the kotatsu heater up and kept reading.

> _—that has officials fearing a mass exodus from the city. With the recent food shortages and increasing civil instability, Neo-Midgar's citizens are starting to look for better prospects elsewhere. Unfortunately, they're bereft of options, and Rufus Shinra is eager to remind them of that fact._
> 
> _"Where the hell are they gonna go?" asked Shinra. "The rest of the world is just as f****d as it is here. They get that, right?"_
> 
> _When asked to comment on his new policies, many of which will likely worsen the current stability of Neo-Midgar, he concluded, "I don't really give a damn."_

"Anything interesting?"

Tifa shrugged and went to the next article. She scanned the screen and sighed. "They're lowering curfew," she announced, "from midnight to 11 PM."

Cloud bashed the eggs with his spatula. " _Again_?"

"Because of the 'insurgency groups'." Tifa made air quotes with her fingers. "They've been making _threats_. Of course, they don't mention which groups and what exactly they're threatening," she muttered. "I hate this stupid newspaper."

"Bet boss'll be happy about that." Cloud walked over and dropped a plate of toast on the kotatsu's table. "We gotta get going."

Tifa glanced at the kitchen clock and swore. "It's one thirty! Why didn't you say anything?!"

"Doesn't that tablet show the time?" Cloud asked. He retreated into his room and shut the door before Tifa could growl at him.

She reluctantly crawled out from underneath the kotatsu. As nice and toasty as it was, they had to go and bring home the bacon so they could keep using the damn thing.

Tifa shoved the toast in her mouth and began wading through the mess that cluttered their tiny living room. Spare clothes, old books, a broken holo-plant that had only worked for two days, some 'collector' retro video game cartridges that had been knocked over a few weeks ago — she and Cloud lived above a discount store and had gotten in the terrible habit of buying anything that tickled their fancy. They were both flat broke, but in a city like Neo-Midgar, you had to make your own happiness, and sometimes that happiness meant a half-broken PC-9X gaming system that Cloud had somehow haggled down to 400 gil.

Her room was just a _tiny_ bit tidier — not a great feat, really, since there wasn't much to tidy. A small box-spring bed sat in the far corner. Her meager dresser held mostly work clothes, because she had little time for much else these days. There _was_ one possession, however, that Tifa loved with all of her heart, and he was currently lying in one of her open drawers, dozing on top of her clean white button-ups.

"Pudding, I have to go to work."

Pudding, her chubby grey cat, opened his eyes and chirped, as if he was deliberately trying to ruin her morning with his cuteness. His cries weren't enough to dissuade Tifa from picking him off of her clean laundry. She opened the door and dropped him off in the living room. "Go bother Cloud," she commanded, before shutting the door in his face.

It took an entire roll of sticky tape before her clothes were presentable again. The uniform consisted of a black turtleneck, a white button-up shirt with puffy sleeves — ideally free of fur, though her boss had never complained about it in the past — and a black vest. A black pencil skirt and matching tights completed the look. It was an exquisitely boring ensemble, more akin to a flight attendant than a bartender, but that was the point — Tifa, with her boss's permission, had deliberately designed it to be that way. It'd be a cold day in hell before she had to comply with a 'mandatory two inches of visible cleavage' dress code again.

She pulled her hair into a high ponytail and swiped some red lipstick on — a necessary element of getting good tips. Her favourite silver earrings went on last. Finally, she was as ready as she was ever going to get.

Tifa opened her bedroom door just in time to see Cloud usher Pudding out of his room. They met at the front door, dressed in their winter best.

"Ready?" Tifa asked.

Cloud wrapped a threadbare scarf around his neck. "No," he said, voice muffled, "but let's go anyway."

Neo-Midgar generally had mild winters, but they had recently been cursed with a cold snap. Cloud and Tifa had found their winter gear in a nearby thrift store, but even the thickest of jackets weren't enough to combat the freezing, bitter cold that descended upon them from the open sky. They hadn't been fortunate enough to find an affordable apartment in the truly desirable areas of the city: the upper-plate, where the rich lived, or the under-plate, which had become more and more gentrified with every passing year. As the decades passed, the weather around Neo-Midgar had become increasingly virulent, spurred by mako pollution. The upper-plate had weather-combatting technology to cover its residents; the under-plate had the plate. Those in the outskirts had nothing at all.

They raced to the train station, eager to get out of the cold. Tifa skipped in place to keep herself warm as they waited on the platform. "What do you think will happen at work today?"

Cloud huffed under his scarf. "Another brain in a jar?"

Tifa shook her head. "Didn't the last one say he was the last of his kind?"

"Did he? What happened to the others?"

"Maybe they made somebody angry? Got pushed off a table."

The train arrived. Cloud gestured for Tifa to get in first, and she eagerly complied. They found two vacant seats and sat down. "Hopefully no more Repair-Bots,” he muttered, referring to the league of massive robotic blue-collar labourers that had come through the bar yesterday. They had been built to work on the hardest of jobs, and much like human labourers, they needed to blow off steam somehow.

Tifa hummed in agreement and pulled off her mittens — and then remembered something. "Oh," she whispered, "I forgot."

“Forgot what?”

Tifa bit her lip. "You know how you left early yesterday?"

"Uh huh."

"Boss and I left you something."

Cloud frowned. "Left _what_?"

"You'll see." Tifa grimaced. The train flew down the railway, taking them to under-side Sector 7's downtown core, and the mess that awaited Cloud at 7 H3A-V3N: the oasis in the center of their dystopian hellhole.

* * *

Neo-Midgar: the city of unlimited potential and boundless advancement. Nobody quite knew where the city had come from; Shinra said one thing, and the people said another. According to Shinra, the city was built on the Promised Land of lore, a land of infinite mako. According to the people, it had been built in haste on some better-than-usual land after the original Midgar had fallen to pieces. Conspiracy theorists claimed that the city was, in fact, the original city, and Shinra had brainwashed everybody into thinking it was something brand new. Regardless of its origin story, it was an awful place to live, and one Tifa would give anything to leave… if anywhere else was better. Unfortunately, the rest of the world was much of the same, leaving her with few options.

The city was a ticking time bomb. Mako pollution, food shortages, rampant crime and corporate leadership had created a situation that _everybody_ found intolerable, but few people were willing to work to change. Shinra’s hold over the populace was absolute: all life, both organic and synthetic, had been infected with nanomachines, designed to keep them in check. Some citizens, helpless in the wake of constant surveillance and endless tragedies, turned to their trinkets and technology to brighten their lives. Others buried themselves in their work. A few turned to drinking, and luckily, Tifa and Cloud were perfectly primed to provide that for them… if they tipped well.

In Sector 7, underneath the plate, seconds away from Silence Street, laid a tiny dive bar. The Bar Registration Commission had given it the name 7 H3A-V3N, but they called it "Seventh Heaven" for simplicity's sake. It wasn't the fanciest bar in Neo-Midgar's blossoming financial district, but it was _theirs_ , and that was all that mattered.

They left the train and weaved through the crowds on Silence Street. The buildings stretched to the very top of the plate — they didn't do as much "sky"scraping like they did in the outskirts, but most companies were more than happy to trade their air rights for protection against the elements. The buildings were awash with neon light from the endless signs that hung off their walls, advertising the various things that Neo-Midgardians used to plug the holes in their lives. Tifa had bought a few of them, of course, because she was no better than the rest of them.

However, rampant consumerism was the least of Neo-Midgar’s problems. The corruption was even more suffocating. On the side of Titan Trust, Sector 7's largest bank, sat a massive advertisement that stood fifty feet tall. The image on the front had various affects on Neo-Midgar's residents, depending on their level of privilege: it comforted some, but horrified others. The image of the White Knights, covered in shining armour, faces covered by an opaque mask, unsettled Tifa to her core. The White Knights were an elite organization under SOLDIER; a specialized police force, with special privileges to carry out whatever they deemed necessary to keep the peace. Tifa had seen enough of their methods to know they didn't keep much of the peace at all. 

It took them ten minutes of wading through the crowds before they reached the bar. Seventh Heaven sat on a side street; close to civilization, but just far enough that they enjoyed a bit of privacy. Various businesses, all in various states of ruin, flanked the bar on both sides. 

Two vending machines sat beside the bar entrance — a specific model that served as bouncers. They were _technically_ designed to recognize and deter the undesirables that Tifa had programmed into it, but her boss had bought them off the back of a truck, and now they terrorized everybody without prejudice. As they approached, one of them hissed and whipped out a tiny metal arm. Tifa knew _exactly_ what they were going for, and pivoted before they could grab her bag.

“We really need to get rid of those,” Cloud muttered.

Tifa smacked the arm down with one hand and fished for her key with the other. After a minute of fiddling, they were inside, away from the bitter cold and the frisky arms of greedy vending machines.

The bar interior had a dark, cozy aesthetic, outfitted in dark blues and purples, with red-cushioned barstools and wooden furniture. The room was filled with a neon glow from the signs that lined the walls. The dim light made it a bit difficult to see, but their regulars usually adjusted to it quite quickly. Most had come to prefer it, and with it, their privacy. The more hidden they were, the better.

Cloud threw their coats in the back while Tifa flipped the 'open' sign on. "So what's this surprise?"

Right. That. "Um, go check the men's bathroom," Tifa mumbled.

Cloud walked to the back hallway, went inside, and immediately walked back out. "What the fuck."

"The Repair-Bots did that."

"They _cracked the toilet in half!_ ”

"And we had no idea how to fix it, so—" Tifa cleared her throat. "You're it."

"They didn't even bother to repair it? Not even the pipes?"

"They charge a lot for their services." Tifa coughed. "You're, um, cheaper."

Cloud stomped back inside the bathroom while Tifa settled behind the bar. She was in the midst of restocking when he came back out.

"I need parts for this. I'm gonna go out.”

Tifa sprung up. “Can you go to Mega-Mart? We need some Wiz-Clean.”

"I just bought some!"

"The Repair-Bots were messy. They had a hard time grabbing drinks with their massive hands.“

He sighed, loud and deep, as if he were mortally put-out by her request. " _Fine_. I'll be back soon."

Tifa was left to stock up by herself, but that was fine. Her routine was second nature, imprinted into her mind by years of the same monotonous job. Luckily, her clients were more than interesting enough to stave off her boredom. Tifa turned the TV on, selected some songs on the jukebox, and whirled around the bar as she got everything into place.

After twenty minutes, she was finally ready to start the day. She murmured a little phrase to herself; a cherished ditty from her training days. "Time to mix drinks and change lives."

"That's a cute phrase."

Tifa whirled around and shrieked. A tall, broad, intimidating White Knight stood at the bar. The neon lights flickered off of their smooth white armor. Tifa immediately took note of the weapon that hung off of their shoulder — a thick baton that had done a considerable amount of damage to her boss's upstairs apartment.

The White Knight's voice was more congenial than it had any right to be. "Sorry! Did I scare you? Is it the helmet?"

Tifa clutched her chest. "No— I mean yeah, kinda,” she gasped. "We don't exactly get a ton of White Knights in here."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Their voice was light and airy, as if they had no idea who they were and what they stood for. They dragged out a barstool and sat down without a care in the world. "Oh, I should probably—"

Tifa clenched her fists. "You're not here to raid us, are you? We're still fixing up the place after the last one."

"What? No, I'm a Valkyrie, we don't do any raiding," they said. "Anti-terrorism branch. I'm part of a search and rescue unit." They patted their arm. "I forgot my arm-band at home. People have been looking at me weird all day."

"Taking off the helmet might help," Tifa suggested.

"Right, good point." They fiddled with the bottom of the helmet. "Just, uh—" They tugged at the edges. "Just gimme—"

Tifa stared as they kept plucking. They really seemed to be struggling.

"Sorry, this helmet is janky." They pulled harder. "Just one—"

There! With one final pull, they managed to wrestle it off. Tifa's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the man underneath. He had one of the kindest faces she'd ever seen — completely uncharacteristic for a White Knight, even if they were just a Valkyrie. His glowing blue eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Better?" he asked.

A bit, but she couldn't let her guard down. "Can I see your ID?"

“Hmm? Yeah, sure.” He patted his armour. "It's somewhere. Gimme a sec."

Did he know where _anything_ was? After a moment of fidgeting, he returned with his phone. He tapped it and turned it to show to her. The words "ZACK FAIR, VALKYRIE, S&R" flashed on the screen. The identifying photo did a fantastic job of displaying his gravity-defying hair — it looked _exactly_ the same as real life, even though it had just been flattened by a helmet. "Thanks,” Tifa said. “How does your hair do that?"

Zack touched the back of it and grinned. "Special hair gel! It uses nanobots to keep its shape. It's expensive, but it's worth it."

"Huh." The wonders of technology. Tifa held up a glass. "Can I get you anything?"

"Do you have a menu? I don't drink much."

Tifa reached underneath the bar and handed him one of their digital menus, displayed on a thin tablet. He scanned the contents and pointed to one of the drinks. "What does the heart mean?" he asked, pointing to the heart symbol beside the menu item.

"That means it was made by yours truly," Tifa said, gesturing to herself. "I like to experiment."

"Cool," he whistled. "I bet your drinks are good. I'll have, er—" He pointed to a cocktail named ‘Suplex’. "I'll have that one."

A simple enough order. "Why that one in particular?"

"The menu says it's manly," he answered. "I'm manly."

Tifa thought otherwise (especially in comparison to her boss, the epitome of manliness, whom she'd designed the drink for in the first place), but she knew better than to say so. She quickly made the drink and placed it down in front of him: an inch of amber liquid in a tiny glass. There wasn't much to it, but it packed a punch.

Zack immediately swiped it up, as if eager to prove himself, took a sip, and grimaced.

"It's _manly_ ," Tifa reminded him. "So what brings you here?"

"I'm meeting my girlfriend—" He frowned. "Er. Ex-girlfriend. We're exchanging some stuff."

Tifa warily glanced behind him. Four arcade machines laid against the far wall; patrons rarely used them, but their glowing displays added to the aesthetic of the bar. She thought back to the last time a couple had used Seventh Heaven as a neutral meeting ground. One of them had been a broken-hearted cyborg with incredible strength and terrible aim. A set of apartment keys had gone through an arcade machine's display, smashing it to bits.

She bit her lip. "... Are you two on good terms?"

"Oh yeah, definitely!" he nodded. "Our break-up was mutual. We just came to the same earth-shattering realization at the same time."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, so—" He took another (manly) sip of his drink and coughed. "We sat each other down, all serious like. Said we had some stuff to talk about. Neither of us wanted to go first, so we decided to blurt it out at the same time. Guess what we said?"

Tifa tilted her head. "'I'm in love with somebody else?'"

"No," he laughed. "'I'm gay.'"

Oh.

"She picked this place out. She's running late, though." He picked up his phone again. "Did you know this bar has terrible reviews on Midgar Maps?"

Tifa snorted. Last she'd checked, 7 H3A-V3N had an impressive 1.7 star rating — two points lower than the catboy cafe next door that'd had three separate salmonella outbreaks from their 'authentic cat food'. "It's been a while since I checked them out. What's your favourite review?"

"Well, I personally liked—" Zack scrolled down on his phone. "'All the staff saw an ice cream hover-truck and ran outside, leaving me alone for ten minutes. They didn't even bother to get me anything. I can't believe this actually happened.'"

Tifa busied herself with cleaning some glasses. "The guy who wrote that was an awful tipper. No way was I buying him ice cream."

"Fair enough." He scrolled down further and squinted. "'I forgot to pay my bar tab. Innocent mistake. The owner tracked me down, picked me up and threw me through my own kitchen table. It took days to get the splinters out.'"

Tifa grimaced. She hadn't quite agreed with that actions behind that one. "He was hosting a corporate party. His bill was nearly as much as my rent."

Zack nodded and kept scrolling. Tifa knew by the furrow of his brow that he'd reached some of the more salacious reviews. "'I want Tifa to step on me.'"

"Yeah, um—" She cleared her throat. "That's me."

"Right," he muttered. His eyes widened. "'I really love Tifa. Like, a lot. A whole lot. You have no idea. I love her so much that it's inexplicable, and I'm ninety-nine percent sure that I have an unhealthy obsession—" He cut himself off and glanced up at her, concerned.

"I had a stalker for a little bit," she admitted.

Zack's expression hardened. "Want me to go find him?"

"No, it's okay. I took care of him." She cracked her knuckles. "You're kind to offer, though."

"This is a hard city to live in," he admitted. "My ex carries a giant expandable staff around. Did you ever watch Wizzo the Wizard when you were a kid? Like _that_ , but it’s a tiny baton she blows up with the push of a button. She's gotten really good at—"

The door slammed open.

"Sorry!" the newcomer said. "It's really windy outside!"

A woman walked inside. She looked like a snow bunny in her winter attire — white peacoat, white mittens, white earmuffs and a thick, fluffy white scarf she'd wrapped around her face. A pink skirt peeked out from underneath the coat, and her legs were wrapped in white tights. Were those the thermal tights that were so popular nowadays? Tifa was dying to ask.

Zack turned around. "There you are! Why didn't you text me?"

"I got distracted by a customer on the road. They bought half my stock!”

She rushed up to the bar and set two things down on its counter — a weaved, wooden basket and a fabric bag. She dug into the bag and pulled out a large jar.

The relief on Zack's face was palpable. "Thanks. I'm almost done the jar I have back at the barracks." He set down the tub and gestured to Tifa. "This is Tifa, by the way. She's been cheerfully tolerating my company."

She turned to Tifa and paused. The woman's eyes were a vibrant green, unlike anything Tifa had ever seen, neither natural nor artificial; they very well could have been fake, like Zack's White Knight standard-issued sclera implants, but somehow, she knew that they weren't. Seconds passed, the woman kept staring, and Tifa squirmed in her boots.

Zack shook her arm. "Aerith. Want a drink? I'll get it."

Aerith jumped. "Yeah, sure!" She sat down and hastily pulled her mittens off before taking Zack's menu.

"The ones with the hearts are unique to the bar," he explained. "Tifa made 'em up."

"Really?" Aerith pulled down her scarf, revealing rosy cheeks and a bright smile. "I bet anything you've invented will be good."

That line, identical to Zack's, felt much different coming from her. Tifa's mouth felt like sandpaper. "What would you like?"

She studied the menu with a furrowed brow. "Um. Something sweet? Not too sweet though. I had ten cups of pudding for lunch."

Zack gave her an odd look, and Aerith aggressively shrugged her shoulders. "What? The nurses were trying to get rid of them! I couldn't let it all go to waste!"

He gave her excuse a fair consideration and nodded in approval. “That's fair. I would've done the same thing." 

Tifa tilted her head as she watched them interact. They were two peas in a pod, even if they were technically exes. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that exchange of brilliant ideas, so she moved on. "I'd recommend a, uh—" She wracked her brain. Why couldn't she remember her own drinks? "A... Sunshine Cloud. Or a Cobalt Velvet. Or a Sugar—"

"A Cobalt Velvet?" Aerith chewed her lip as she read the description on the menu. The cute gesture was incredibly distracting. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Tifa turned around to make the drink. She had the strangest feeling that her life was about to get a lot more chaotic.

"What did you get?" Aerith asked Zack.

"It's a—" Zack picked up the tablet. "— A 'Suplex'. It's really spicy, though. You probably wouldn't like it."

"I'll be the judge of that." A pause. "That's not spicy at all."

"Yes it is! It even says so on the menu!"

"Did you order it just because it says 'manly'?"

" _No_ ," Zack insisted. "I ordered it because I like spicy things."

"My mom's curry made you cry."

"I was having a bad day."

"You're just a weenie," Aerith sang, a teasing lilt to her voice. "You should've gotten a—" A brief pause. "—Sugar Rush instead."

"Is _that_ why you broke up with me?"

"One, it was mutual, and two, no." Aerith snorted. “Your boobs just aren't big enough for my tastes."

Tifa swore as her shotglass slipped out of her hands, splattering Flanergide all over the floor.

The two of them jumped off their seats. "Are you okay?" Aerith asked.

Tifa's cheeks lit up. She hadn't broken a glass since her training days. "Yeah, fine!" she insisted, still facing away from them. "The vacuum will get it!"

The bar's brand new Robo-Vacuum slid out from underneath the bar. It whirled around her feet, sucking up the glass, as Tifa finished the drink. She barely just missed stepping on it as she turned around.

Tifa placed the drink on the counter — a light-blue drink in a round glass. The liquid shimmered and glowed, like moonlight condensed into a cup. Aerith picked it up and inspected it with wide eyes.

"It's pretty," she whispered, voice full of awe. "I've never seen anything like it."

"The glow, you mean?"

Aerith nodded. "How did you do that?"

Tifa smiled as she got into her element. Mixology was one of her favourite topics. “That’s the Karmotrine. It has light-reflecting particles that make it glow in a lit room. It wouldn't do that in the dark."

"Karmotrine? What's—" Aerith began to say, until she was interrupted by Zack glancing at his phone.

"I gotta go. Break’s almost up.“

"Why are you working today? Don't you usually have Saturdays off?" Aerith asked.

He rubbed the back of his head, as if he were preparing for a lecture. "I got called in. No way I'm saying no."

"Still at the bank?"

"Yep." He sighed. "It's the most boring job I've ever been assigned. We're not even doing any searching and rescuing.“

Tifa took that moment to interrupt. "You said you're a Valkyrie, right?"

"Yep! Protectors of the city." Zack stood up straight, looking very proud of himself.

"Even heroes need days off," Aerith argued, openly disapproving.

He waved his hand, dismissing her concerns. “It’s fine. I’ll sleep when I'm dead.”

It was in that moment that Tifa noticed the dark circles underneath his eyes; the artificial glow of his sclera masked their appearance. Before Tifa could mention it, he grabbed the jar and swung it around in his hands. "Thanks for bringing this."

Tifa quickly peeked at the label. It read 'Aerodynamic Airgel! Now with 90% more nanobots!' "I gotta ask you something. Is that stuff waterproof?"

"The nanobots are, yeah," Zack said. "Why do you ask?"

"Cloud," Tifa answered, thoughtful. "We live on the outskirts. He's always complaining about the rain flattening his hair."

Zack’s eyes widened. "Cloud?"

"Yeah, my coworker," Tifa clarified. "He went out on an errand—"

The door slammed open. Tifa immediately knew who it was — his thudding boots made it obvious. "Stop slamming the door! We just fixed the wall!" she yelled.

"I can't help it! Wind's crazy!"

Cloud burst in. He looked like he'd taken a stroll through a tornado — his coat hung off his shoulders, and his hair stuck out in every direction. Fury rippled off of him in waves. "Trying to get to the store was like fighting against Typhon, then the clerk wouldn't take my coupons, he kept saying they were fake—"

They'd gotten them from the Midgar Mirage. Before Tifa could say 'they probably were fake', Zack jumped up and turned around with such force that he sent the barstool crashing to the ground. The loud _bang!_ had no effect on the two men, who were now staring at each other as if they had both seen a ghost.

"Cloud?"

Cloud's mouth dropped. "Zack?"

Zack ran up to him and swiped him up a hug so strong that it sent Cloud's shopping bags crashing to the ground. One of the Wiz-Clean bottles burst open and pooled around their feet. The liquid-approved Robo-Vacuum pulled out from underneath the bar and zoomed towards them.

Tifa knew Cloud didn't like being touched, which is why she was so surprised when it took him a few seconds to respond. "Let go of me!" he ground out.

"I haven't seen you in years!"

"Didn't they teach you about boundaries in White Knight school?!"

"Huh? Boundaries?” After a few seconds of struggling, Zack let him go, only to reach for Cloud's coat pockets. "Gimme your phone."

Cloud tried to step away, but it was too late. “What the hell are you doing?!"

"I can't just give you my number, you'll never call it."

Zack pulled out Cloud's phone and held it high in the air as he inputted his number. Cloud jumped on his toes to try and grab it while the Robo-Vacuum whirled around their feet, only seconds away from being crushed to death by Cloud's oversized boots. The image reminded Tifa of Pudding trying to reach for a toy. "Give it back!" he yelled.

"One sec." Zack tapped something on Cloud's phone. His own phone, still on the counter, vibrated. "There! Done."

Cloud swiped his phone back and shoved it in his pocket. Zack turned back towards the bar, his goal completed. "Thanks for the—" He ran up and set his barstool upright. "Thanks for the drink!"

He grabbed his phone and bolted out the door. Aerith and Tifa both watched him go, and then turned to Cloud, who was staring at the ground with flushed cheeks.

"... Gonna go clean the bathroom." He hastily picked up the bags and sprinted to the back hallway. "Stupid—"

The door slammed shut. Tifa turned to Aerith, who looked just as surprised as she was. "Did that just happen?"

Aerith slapped her own cheek. “I think so? I felt that, so it must have."

"I mean, I've definitely seen crazier things working here," Tifa mumbled, "but that was pretty up there."

"Like what?"

"Brain in a jar."

Aerith blinked. "What?"

Tifa stared off into the void, haunted by memories of that miserable night. "He ordered pure Karmotrine and left without paying. His jar-juice got everywhere. We had to buy a new vacuum..."

The goo. The shattered glass. The sticky, glowing Karmotrine, dripped over every surface. The grating robotic voice of the brain-jar-man, who was more demanding than any… person?… had the right to be. Tifa was only pulled out of her nightmares by the sounds of Aerith's giggles. One look at her was all it took for Tifa to laugh as well.

"What is Karmotrine, anyway?" Aerith asked.

"You've never heard of it?"

"In passing, but I don't really drink.”

Tifa dove underneath the bar and returned with a litre-sized bottle of clear, shimmering liquid. "It's what makes drinks boozy. Purely synthetic, since real alcohol is expensive."

Aerith nodded. "Because you can't make it anymore."

"Exactly. Everything we have here is synthetic—" Tifa dipped beneath the bar again and returned with four more bottles. She grabbed a red bottle, identical to the Karmotrine bottle in size. The liquid inside looked suspiciously similar to cherry cough syrup. "Adelhyde. For sweetness."

Aerith leaned her chin on her hands and nodded. Tifa smiled, energized by the attention Aerith was paying to her. Cloud returned from the bathroom and started messing around behind the bar, but Aerith never took her eyes off Tifa, who continued her lesson with gusto.

Tifa picked up an orange bottle next. "Bronson Extract. For bitterness. This used to be based on a natural ingredient, but bronson roots are basically extinct now, so—"

"As is everything else," Cloud muttered.

Aerith lightly shrugged. "Go on."

The green bottle was next. "Flanergide—"

"The one you dropped on the floor."

Cloud looked over his shoulder, confused. Tifa blushed. "Yeah, um—" She bit her lip. "It's the least expensive out of the bunch, so it's fine. It's for spiciness."

"The blue one?"

"Powdered Delta. Sourness. We used to use it as rat poison, but—" She glanced at the bottle and sighed. "Somebody got curious and decided to lick it, and here we are."

"What happens if you mix all four together?"

"Equally? You get a disgusting drink called a Zen Star." Tifa wrinkled her nose. "I put it on the menu as a joke, but some people actually like it."

Aerith took that as a cue to finish off the last of the Cobalt Velvet. "Can I get one of those next?"

Tifa quirked her eyebrow. "You know you'll have to pay even if you don't like it, right?"

"Obviously!"

Tifa opened her mouth to respond, but just as she did, the front door slammed open again. She glared at the massive figure hovering in the doorway. "Stop slamming the door! You'll chip the paint!"

"Who cares? It's my paint." They stomped up to the bar. "Why does it smell like the cleanin’ aisle of a Mega-Mart in here?"

"Cloud spilled some Wiz-Clean."

"By _accident_ ," Cloud added.

"He went out to get some stuff for the..." Tifa sighed. "... bathroom."

The man's raucous laughter filled the bar, drowning out the music coming from the jukebox. "You order the new toilet yet?"

"It'll be in on Tuesday," Cloud said.

"Cool, cool." He turned to Aerith. "I'm Barret. We haven't had any new customers in a while," he frowned, "other than the Repair-Bots."

"I'm Aerith." She held out her hand. "I found this place on Midgar Maps."

Barret's eyebrows lifted in surprise. His right hand, a metal prosthetic, shaked hers. "And you came here anyway? Didn’t you see the ratin'?”

"I live nearby, and I figured it was a safer bet than the catboy cafe," Aerith shrugged. "I'm glad I did!"

"I'm glad to hear that!" Barret lifted the bundle that sat in his right arm. "This is Marlene."

As he shifted, Marlene's face became visible. Barret was so afraid of her catching a cold that he'd gotten in the habit of wrapping her in every bit of winter gear he could find. She was wearing a winter coat, a knit cap, earmuffs on top of that, and a massive scarf to finish it off. "Hi," she yawned.

Barret pointed to the bar counter. ”Did we get raided today?"

Aerith and Tifa followed his finger... to the White Knight helmet that was sitting beside them, tucked beside some fake plants. How did neither of them notice it? "We had a Valkyrie come in. They left their helmet."

"He didn't pay either, now that I think about it," Aerith muttered.

Marlene shuffled in Barret's arms. "Daddy, I want the helmet."

"No sweetie, it's a symbol of fascism." He picked up the helmet with his free hand. "I'll put it in the back."

"What about the flowers?" Marlene asked. She pointed to Aerith. “Can I have one?”

The flowers? Tifa followed Marlene's line of sight to the basket on the counter — Aerith's basket. In the throes of chaos, Tifa had completely forgotten about it.

Aerith flashed her a bright smile. "Come back in ten minutes and I'll give you something better than a flower."

Marlene, the bright child that she was, had no problem with delayed gratification; a rare trait for a five year old. She nodded and thumped Barret's chest. "I'm hungry."

Tifa watched them walk off, then turned back to Aerith. "Flowers?"

Aerith reached into her basket — that had seemed empty at first glance, but apparently wasn't — and pulled something out. "They're not real, obviously, but I try my best."

In Aerith's hand was... a flower. A delicate, finely-crafted fake flower, with fabric yellow petals, sewn with gold thread. The petals were covered in a sparkly glaze, protecting the petals from moisture. Tifa had seen plenty of mock-ups in her life (like the sad looking plant on the bar counter), but Aerith's flowers were the most realistic she had ever seen. The beading on the fabric caught the light, making the petals shine like something from another world.

"Wow," Tifa whispered. "Did you make that?"

"Mhmm." Aerith stroked the petals. "I sell them. Weddings and stuff. Sometimes I'll wander around town and sell them on the street." She gestured to the basket. "That's what I was doing today."

"In this weather?"

"It wasn't so bad earlier," Aerith shrugged. "What about that nasty drink?"

Tifa went to grab a glass, then paused. She peered into Aerith's basket. "Could you spare one of those flowers? I'll pay you for it."

Aerith fished out a flower and handed it to her.

Tifa grabbed a shaker and poured two shots of Adelhyde and Bronson Extract into it. The color wasn't quite there, so she added two shots of Karmotrine to lighten the mixture. Two shot of green Flanergide neutralized the Adelhyde's redness, leaving the drink a light yellow. She poured it into a martini glass and added the flower. "There."

Aerith’s eyes widened as she took the drink from her. "Did you just come up with that?”

"Yeah, but I didn't taste it. Can you let me know how it is?"

Tifa watched as Aerith sipped it. The expression on her face was heavenly, as if Tifa had handed her the nectar of the gods. "You're amazing."

Tifa's cheeks lit up. She waved her hand. “It's nothing. I do this kind of thing all the time.”

Barret and Marlene’s voices broke Aerith out of her reverie. She jumped and reached for her basket. "Right, I gotta—"

As Tifa began wiping down her station, Aerith dumped some flowers on the counter and started weaving the stems together. Tifa stole peeks at Aerith's process every few seconds. Within a few minutes, she had a child-sized flower crown sitting in her hands.

Marlene arrived just on time. Aerith leaned down from her barstool and placed the crown on Marlene's head. "This is your new crown," she said, regally, as if she were crowning a queen. "You're the Princess of Flowers now."

Marlene looked up at her with wide eyes. "Really?" Aerith nodded, and Marlene immediately spun around and ran towards the back hallway.

"Marlene! Say thank you!" Tifa called.

"Thank you!" Marlene yelled.

Tifa turned back to Aerith. "That was very kind of you."

Aerith shrugged as she plucked the flower out of her drink. “I make them all the time.”

"Did you like the drink?"

"Of course I did, you made it," Aerith simply said. She wiped off the flower with a napkin and began fiddling with it. "You should put it on the menu."

"I could," Tifa hummed. "What would I call it?"

"'Chocobo Juice.'"

Tifa glared at Cloud. "Shut up." She turned back to Aerith. "How about 'Golden Flower'?"

"That's a good name, but I like 'Chocobo Juice' too," Aerith said. "Hold out your hand."

Confused, Tifa extended her left hand. Aerith slid something onto her ring finger: the flower from the drink, with its stem wound into a circle. The beading on the flower's center made it look like a gemstone. Aerith grinned and turned Tifa's hand from side to side, inspecting her work. "As thanks."

"Oh, you don't—"

"Could I get the bill? I texted Zack. He sent me the money."

Behind Tifa, Cloud snorted. Tifa, still in a haze, grabbed the payment terminal and inputted the total. Aerith fished her phone out of her pocket and held it above the terminal until it vibrated.

It took Aerith a solid minute to put her winter gear back on. “Thanks for everything. I’ll be back!”

Tifa watched her go. The entire exchange left her in a daze, and Tifa barely paid attention to the few customers that came in after her. Luckily, their day was almost over; she'd become so enraptured by their conversation that she'd forgotten to take her mid-day break, and her feet were killing her. Cloud didn't seem to be in a much better state, as he got two customers' drinks wrong in a row.

As they closed, Barret came out to turn the 'open' sign off. "You're both actin' weird today," he commented.

Cloud could only grunt as he stocked Karmotrine bottles in the wrong cupboard. “Am not,” Tifa retorted.

"Marlene's been askin' if the 'flower lady' is coming back," Barret said.

At that, Tifa hesitated. In Neo-Midgar, people often didn't come back for a variety of reasons, many of which she didn't like to think about. "Maybe," she mumbled, hesitant to dream.

At 10:45, she and Cloud bundled back up and took off for the train station. The ride back to the outskirts passed by in perfect silence, with Cloud staring at his phone and Tifa staring at the flower ring. As they rode back home, Tifa couldn’t help but wonder what tomorrow would bring.


	2. Sugar Rush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two Adelhyde, one Powdered Delta, and unlimited Karmotrine. Mixed. 
> 
> "Sweet, light and fruity. As girly as it gets."
> 
> Sweet, girly, and happy.

Sunday, December 20th, 2108

For Tifa, living with a roommate was an adjustment. It'd taken weeks for her and Cloud to work the kinks out of their routine — who got to shower when, who got the TV controller on the weekends, and who bore the ultimate responsibility of telling their landlord that they'd be late on their rent because their bank account had been hacked for the third time that month. However, they eventually settled into a routine, and Tifa was absolutely delighted that it relieved her of breakfast duties.

Cloud dropped a mug of coffee on the table and glanced at the flower ring. Tifa had slept with it on, leaving it slightly bent at the edges. She followed his line of sight and scowled. The ring was the most valuable thing she owned, and she'd gotten it for free. "That thing's gonna fall off," he warned.

"No it won't, it's not real," Tifa grumbled, " _obviously_."

Tifa was a grouch in the 'mornings', and they both knew it. Cloud carefully retreated back to the kitchen while Tifa pulled her phone out.

The lock screen image was the only thing that could make her smile before 2 PM: a picture of her, Barret and Marlene, taken with Tifa's new phone. Cloud had refused to pose with them, so Barret had come up with the brilliant idea of sneaking him in. They took the picture behind the bar, where Cloud had coincidentally been standing, and left a gap between them to fit him in. "BEST BOSSES", written in pink script, sat beside Marlene's smiling face.

Tifa swiped the screen and opened her phone up. Beyond the image sat the Midgar Mirage app. Seeing their headlines always sent her crashing back down to reality.

The headlines were a bit boring this morning, which was understandable. It _was_ Sunday, after all.

> **The Midgar Mirage**
> 
> **Your local source for 100% unbiased news (seriously, we're the last newspaper in Neo-Midgar not owned by Shinra)**
> 
> Shinra now claims giving change to homeless people is tax evasion
> 
> Notorious hacker white_r0se leaks details on terrorist threats
> 
> Local girl dies in basement after falling prey to fanfiction addiction

Tifa clicked on the second one.

> Notorious hacker white_r0se leaks details on terrorist threats
> 
> _Neo-Midgar announced a new curfew yesterday, restricting all non-essential activity after 11 PM. This is the latest move in a slew of efforts to contain what Shinra calls 'terrorist threats' — threats that, so far, haven't had any real weight behind them. These crucial lack of details have left Neo-Midgardians in an state of perpetual anxiety. Mega-Christmas is coming up in six days. Are these threats going to impact the holidays?_
> 
> _Earlier today, notorious hacker and vigilante white_r0se released a series of documents detailing plans to attack Neo-Midgar's under-plate financial district. All four of Neo-Midgar's major banks are potentially at risk. Rufus Shinra IV promptly responded to the leak:_
> 
> _"We want to assure the fine people of this city that they'll have plenty of time to get their Mega-Christmas shopping done before the—"_

Tifa sighed and flipped to the second page of articles. She read on while the smell of burnt toast filled the apartment. In the background, Cloud swore up a storm. " _Shit_ —"

This article was in the gossip section. Tifa didn't normally read it (it was filled with irritating Mega-Christmas ads), but she had half a cup of coffee to finish, so...

> "Notorious" hacker white_r0se — who are they, really?
> 
> By Jessie Andrews
> 
> _You've probably heard that name around town. I certainly have, and I'm sick of it. For months this "notorious" hacker has tormented the internet with their juvenile kiddie scripts while dropping 'classified documents' with dubious origins. Who is this person? Why should we trust what they're saying? What's their deal?_
> 
> _Well, dear reader, we may finally have an idea. One of our sources — I can't say who, but I can tell you they're very trustworthy — has narrowed down the potential identity of this proliferate troll. They sent us this picture late last night—_

Tifa squinted at the picture on the screen: a very grainy, blurry picture of what appeared to be a... young girl. That couldn't be right.

> _This is the clearest photo our source could get. Might this give us an idea as to the identity of the famous hacdsfasdfds_
> 
> _I'M GETTING REAL TIRED OF YOUR SHIT JESSIE ANDREWS_

The app crashed.

Tifa frowned and tapped it. It promptly crashed again. What the hell? Now her entire phone was frozen!

Cloud dropped off a slice of nearly-black toast, stopping Tifa just short of throwing her fist through the screen. "What's up?"

"Nothing, it's just being stupid." Tifa set the phone down and picked up her mug instead. "Did you hear about the terrorist threats?"

Cloud paused, then shrugged. Tifa quirked an eyebrow at him, and he wilted. "You know the White Knight from yesterday?"

"Uh huh."

"He's stationed at Titan Trust's headquarters."

That'd certainly explain all of the overtime Zack was pulling. Did that mean the threats were real? When were they going to attack? _Who_ was going to attack? Did he know? Was Seventh Heaven safe? A hundred reasonable, rational questions waited on Tifa's lips, but she pushed them aside in favour of the _most_ important question. "Were you talking to him last night?"

"No, he just updated me on his life story without my asking." He took off towards his room before Tifa could waylay him with more questions. "We gotta go."

The kitchen clock read 1:40. "Why didn't you say anything?!"

"Doesn't that phone show the time?"

" _It's broken!_ ”

That clearly made no difference to him. Tifa grumbled and stuck the burnt toast in her mouth. The caffeine couldn't kick in fast enough.

Unfortunately, the flower ring was too beaten-up to take to work. Tifa entered her room and spotted Pudding, wrapped up in her messy blankets, who stared at the ring with eager eyes. She quickly shoved it in her jewelry box before he could get to it.

The ride to work was uneventful… and empty. She and Cloud had their pick of seats on the train, and they didn't even have to elbow anybody on the walk down Silence Street. Why on earth was the sector so empty? It was the weekend before Mega-Christmas! Surely they hadn't all finished their shopping—

As they crossed the street, the sight of the Titan Trust building came into view. _Right. That._

The bar was already open when they arrived. Barret must've stayed home today.

"Boss, we're here!"

"I'm in the back!"

Tifa threw her coat in the back room and poked her head in the office. "Where's Marlene?"

Barret, as always, looked absolutely ridiculous crammed behind his office desk. No furniture could ever dream of accommodating that man. "At a sleepover..." he muttered, absent-minded, as he slowly tapped away at the laptop in front of him. "I gotta work on the books. I'm gettin' nowhere, though. Still not used to doin' this."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Not unless you can fix computers, this thing keeps on givin' me errors," Barret grumbled. He hit a key and swore as an error sound chimed. " _Shit!_ I can't afford another one of these!"

Tifa glanced at the screen and gulped. She couldn't tell where the error messages stopped and the rest of the screen began. "I'll come and look at it when I'm on break."

"Don't sweat it," Barret said. "Tell Cloud to do some repairs in the bathroom. I doubt we're gonna get _anyone_ today. Whole sector's empty."

"Can you blame them?"

"Sure I can. This city isn't peaceful, think they'd be used to it by now," Barret grumbled. "Oh well. They'll be back tomorrow."

Cloud grabbed the toolbox and went into the bathroom while Tifa grabbed every menu underneath the bar. Luckily, with their new displays, they were easy to edit. She wrote "Golden Flower" underneath the list of cocktails and watched as her writing appeared on every menu.

_Golden Flower. As beautiful as the real thing. Sweet, classy, happy._

Just as Tifa wrote the last word, the door chime sounded. Had somebody actually come here on a joyless Sunday? She couldn't see anybody when she glanced over the counter, which should've been a big clue as to who it was, since he was generally hard to spot to begin with.

Tifa smiled as a small animatronic cat climbed up the barstool. He was dressed in a tiny cat-sized black suit. "If it isn't my favourite Director of Urban Development!"

It was, admittedly, a bit hard to read Reeve's facial expressions (considering he had less facial 'muscles' than most humans), but Tifa knew him well enough to know that the slightest droop of his whiskers meant he was in considerable distress. He promptly smacked his face against the countertop in response to her greeting.

Tifa grimaced. "Bad day at work?"

The sound that came from him was excruciating — half feline hiss, half human scream, combined to form the sound of a catboy in pure agony. "Sugar Rush, please," he choked out.

A Sugar Rush was the simplest drink one could make. Two shots of Adelhyde, one shot of Powdered Delta, and as much Karmotrine as the client wanted, which, in Reeve's case, was the entire damn bottle. Tifa threw in six shots of Karmotrine and mixed them all, resulting in a bright-pink cocktail with a sweet, fruity flavour (and a lot of booze).

Reeve sat on top of the counter (he was too short for the stool) and sipped his drink. Tifa waited until half of it was gone before she spoke again. "I didn't think you worked today, Reeve. Isn't it Sunday?"

He gave her a doleful look. "You're saying that as if it means something. I assure you, it doesn't." He took another large sip. "Besides, I think they're taking advantage of the fact that I can't feel fatigue like them."

Tifa frowned. "Can't you? The real you, I mean?"

His tail thumped against the bar. "The real me subsides off of energy drinks nowadays, so... yes, but no. I also think they have a hard time grasping that the _real_ me doesn't have to commute to the city, but _this_ form still does."

“So what happened at work?”

"Alright, so—" Reeve took another big sip of his 50% Karmotrine drink before continuing. "Remember that project I was telling you about?"

"The third plate?"

"Well, that was one of the proposed ideas." The more he drank, the more his tension eased. "I finally got the projections back from the meteorology department. It's bad. Shinra's on track to completely destroy the ozone layer above the city in ten years. The weather-combatting technology on the top plate can't handle it anymore. If we don't figure something out, we're screwed."

Tifa sighed. As dismal as that news was, she'd gotten used to hearing bad things from Reeve. "Not to mention the outskirts."

"Exactly, which makes it even worse. So she tells me all of this and I go 'oh no!'"

"A understatement," Tifa nodded.

Reeve drained the rest of his drink and stood up. He paced the length of the bar as Tifa began work on his second cocktail. "We gotta get working on this project. So I track down this... this..."

He paused and stared off into the distance, looking vaguely constipated. Tifa knew exactly what was going through his little furry mind. "C'mon. Let it all out."

"... This _asshole_ I call a boss." He started pacing again. "I track down Rufus Shinra and tell him, right to his face, that his people are going to die if he doesn't do something. Guess what he tells me?"

The last sentence came out more as a hiss than an intelligible sentence. "'No'?"

"The money's gone! That fifty million gil earmarked for the project? He spent it all on a _theme park_! Do you remember those 'unhappiness scores' that were all over the news? That's his solution! A massive theme park fifty miles from Neo-Midgar where we can all go to drown our sorrows in overpriced slushies and chocobo-shaped popcorn!"

Cloud poked his head out of the bathroom. "What's with the howling?"

"We're gonna roast to death," Tifa told him.

"Oh." Cloud shrugged. "Fine. Whatever."

He came out of the bathroom and went behind the bar, seemingly in search of something to drink. Tifa turned back to Reeve. "So now what?"

At that, Reeve faltered. His tail drooped straight to the ground. "Who knows? I thought I had his ear until some capitalist took it away. He wasted fifty million gil on a daydream. Was he even listening to me in the first place?"

Cloud took a big gulp of his own Sugar Rush. "Could it have anything to do with the fact that you're a cat?"

"Cloud!" Tifa hissed. "He's a hardworking cat! Leave him alone!"

"I doubt it," Reeve said. "There's plenty of weirder people than me at HQ now. The Director of Meteorology I just mentioned? She has nine bushy fox tails. The new guy I hired as Team Lead is a talking shiba-inu."

Cloud furrowed his brow. "How does he do his job? Don't you do a lot of drawing?"

"Yeah, don't you need opposable thumbs?" Tifa asked.

"He draws with his mouth, it's hard to explain."

He began pacing back up and down the counter again. Cloud took his drink with him to the bathroom.

"... I'm starting to think I can't do this," Reeve moaned. "I thought I could make a difference with this job. How am I supposed to compete with a playboy and his lack of impulse control?"

"You should've asked us. We would've set you straight," Tifa said.

"Yes, well—" Reeve put his head in his paws. "Sometimes I wonder how different my career would've been if I'd found this place first."

"Maybe you can focus on your side business?"

Reeve sat back down, his energy spent. "That's tempting, honestly. The world needs more cat toys."

Barret yelled from the back office. "Tifa! Is Reeve here?"

"He just got here!"

"Could you two come to the back?"

Reeve glanced at Tifa. She shrugged. "He was having computer trouble earlier. Do you know how to fix computers?"

"No idea, but I'll give it my best shot." Reeve hopped off the counter. They walked to the back and entered the office.

Tifa was expecting to see any number of things: a broken laptop, a hole in the wall, or a smouldering crater where Barret's desk once was. Or all three. What she _wasn't_ expecting, however, was the sight of Barret with a White Knight helmet on his head.

"I need help." The forlorn sound of his voice almost made Tifa feel sorry for him, until she remembered that that helmet _belonged to somebody._

Tifa's jaw dropped. "What happened to 'it's a symbol of fascism?'"

"Where did you get that helmet?!" Reeve yelped.

"I thought it'd be funny! It ain't funny anymore! I can't get it off!"

"Did you mug a White Knight for that? Those helmets have been going for a lot on the black market,” Reeve asked.

"... How do you know that?" Barret asked.

"I heard about it at work," Reeve said. "You wouldn't believe the things they talk about in the cafeteria."

"We had a White Knight come in yesterday. I'll explain later,” Tifa said.

"Reeve, do you know how to get this stupid thing off?" Barret asked.

"How would I know?"

"You work for Shinra!"

"Do you have any idea how big that company is?! I'm as far from the White Knights as you can get!"

Tifa sighed and thumped on the far wall. The walls were thin enough that it roused Cloud from his work in the bathroom. "What?" he yelled, voice muffled.

"Come here!"

Tifa turned back to Barret, who had begun anxiously pacing, and Reeve, who was now brainstorming solutions out loud. "Is the locking mechanism broken?" he murmured to himself, lost in thought. His feet tapped on the ground with every new word. "It shouldn't be that difficult—"

Cloud burst into the room and stopped dead at the sight of Barret. "What the fuck, boss?"

"Cloud," Tifa sang, as sweet as pie, "I need you to do me a favour."

"I can't get the damn thing off," Barret said, for the fiftieth time that night. "I need help."

Cloud glanced at Tifa, then Barret, then back to Tifa. "No."

"Please?" Tifa asked.

"No."

"He has to come and pick up the helmet anyway. What's the harm in calling him?"

Cloud's blood drained out of his face. "There's plenty of harm!"

"He seemed nice enough to me," Tifa shrugged.

"You're only saying that because you spent all night talking to his ex-girlfriend!"

"Are we talking about the White Knight?" Reeve asked.

Tifa nodded.

"He was _nice?_ "

"Very nice. He's a Valkyrie. Works for a search and rescue unit."

Reeve nodded. "That might explain why the helmet's so janky. They probably don't get priority on new equipment."

"What if we broke the helmet?" Cloud said, sounding just a bit desperate. "Just... smashed it with the bat we keep behind the bar."

"With my face inside?" Barret said.

"You're not using it for anything."

" _You little shit_ —"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Reeve interjected. "Those helmets are expensive to replace."

At that, Barret froze. "... How expensive?"

Reeve rubbed his furry chin, deep in thought. "Not my department, but... fifty thousand gil? I've heard rumours."

Barret gasped. "You gotta be _shittin' me!_ That's as much as Marlene's school fees!" He went to go touch the helmet, then thought otherwise. "Cloud! Call the fuckboy!"

The others turned to Cloud, waiting for his response. Slowly, he deflated, now having come to terms with his new reality. "Alright, fine," he grunted. "I'll be right back."

He pulled out his phone and walked out of the room. A moment later, he returned. "Ten minutes."

"Alright, ya'll get back to work," Barret said. He grumpily sat back down. "I'll just be here..." He tapped the laptop and wilted as it screeched in response. "Man, today sucks."

There wasn't much else they could do for him, so Tifa led the charge out of the office. She made Reeve a third cocktail while Cloud started scrubbing the back bar, lacking better things to do.

"So, a White Knight?"

Tifa nodded as she poured out two shots of Adelhyde. "Mhmm. He really is nice."

"What does his ex-girlfriend do?"

"Florist."

Reeve tilted his head, and Tifa clarified. "Fake flowers. She makes them by hand. They're very pretty, actually."

“And how’d they find this place?”

"... They found it online? I'm not sure, actually," Tifa murmured. "I should ask. Maybe they chose it for the same reason as you?"

"They sought out a seedy dive bar full of degenerates where nobody would make fun of their cat body?"

" _Seedy?_ " Tifa gestured to Cloud, who was now furiously scrubbing the rest of the bar with what was left of the cleaner from yesterday.

"Not the place, but the clientele," Reeve said. "You gotta admit you get some strange people in here."

Tifa thought back to the brain in a jar. "Yeah, true."

"And the location. Those vending machines outside have successfully robbed me twice."

"Boss needs to get rid of them, I know," Tifa muttered. "We offered to reinburse you—"

"I told you, don't worry about it," Reeve insisted. "Those vending machines keep decent people away."

Tifa laughed and glanced over at Cloud. He usually took a more active role in their conversations, but he was lost in soap suds, so Tifa let him be.

They continued as they were, making idle chitchat, until Zack arrived, dressed in his immaculate white armour. Tifa noticed another helmet underneath his arm — he had a spare. "You were kinda short on the phone," he said to Cloud. "Your boss got stuck?"

"Come with me," Cloud said.

Tifa bent over the bar and peered into the back. Reeve spun around and sat back down, facing the back door. They watched as Zack finally managed to unclasp the helmet and—

"Your head's way too big for this thing," Zack said. "How did you even get it in here?"

"Didn't seem that hard goin' on," Barret said.

"Cloud, give me a hand."

Zack and Cloud gripped the bottom of the helmet and pulled. For a second, Tifa thought they'd take Barret's head off, but sure enough, they managed to pull it off. The effort launched them backwards, and they landed on the floor in a heap. The helmet flew out of their hands and crashed on the far wall with a loud _thunk_.

"Wow," Reeve whistled.

Barret, visibly grateful, helped them up and walked them to the bar. "This man's drinks are on me!" he said, pointing to Zack. "He saved my ass!"

"Actually, I gotta get back to work, I kinda left everybody hanging," Zack rushed. "I'll come back after my shift's done!"

He darted back out of the bar as quickly as he had come. As the door closed, they heard a crash. "Ack! Stupid vending machine! Let go of me!"

"Sorry! We've been meaning to get rid of them!" Tifa yelled.

Cloud ran out the door to help him. Reeve slowly turned back towards the bar. "Well, that's the most chaotic I've seen this place."

"You sure? What about the Repair-Bots?”

Reeve grimaced. He'd been the first to discover the cracked toilet — all of that Sugar Rush had to go somewhere. "Good point. I'd forgotten about that."

They continued their idle chitchat. Cloud came back in and settled behind the bar.

"Did you hear about that hacker?" Reeve asked.

"Leaking the terrorist threats?" Tifa clarified.

"That one. They're quite the menace. HQ thinks they're the one behind the attacks on our company intranet."

Cloud paused in his restocking. “What attacks?"

"They hacked our computers so that every time we clicked on something, it screamed. One of those loud, visceral screams that chills your bones. It made drafting our prototypes an absolute nightmare." He laughed. "It was funny, though. Really freaked out my Shiba-Inu coworker. Besides, we got to go home early."

The fun thing about having Reeve as a regular was that, given enough Karmotrine, he'd start dropping bits of Shinra gossip. It was usually petty things, but Tifa had fun with it nonetheless.

"Why not mute it?" Cloud asked. "Easy enough."

"They greyed out the mute option. Everything was on full blast." His tail batted on the floor as he talked. "It took days to fix. The virus was on the intranet's servers, so every time we brought in a new computer, it'd run into the same problem once we connected it to the network." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I heard Rufus Shinra went through four laptops before they finally figured it out."

The front door opened.

The three of them turned to the door as the bell chimed. The last vestiges of artificial daylight made it difficult for Tifa to see who it was. Slowly, her eyes focused… on a young, scared teenager, entirely too young to be in a dive bar.

"Um, hi." The teenager hopped on her feet, full of anxious energy. "Do you have anywhere I can hide?"

Tifa knew exactly what to do. "Boss! Stalked woman incoming!"

"Door's open!"

Tifa pointed to the hallway. "Door in the back."

The teenager darted into the hallway and slowly closed the door. Tifa glanced at her as she went, wondering what on Gaia she was running from, until the door opened once more. Reeve turned back to the door and yelped.

"I'm gettin' real tired of this," somebody said. "Did she come in here?"

Reeve dove behind the bar and hid in the shelves by Tifa's feet. Cloud barely had enough time to grab his drink before the two men came into view.

Seventh's Heaven unique location — minutes away from the financial district, right next to the outskirts, directly below upper-class topside Sector 7 — meant they got a wide range of clientele from all walks of life (though, as Reeve mentioned, they tended to skew on the deplorable side). Everything from everyday labourers to Shinra upper management, washed-up pop stars to crime leaders — Tifa had seen it all.

Except for _them_. Tifa had never seen a Turk in the flesh.

Their outfits — and weapons — made it obvious. High-quality suits with winter trenchcoats on top; they could've passed as bankers, if not for their strange weapons. The mismatch was the surest tell of their status: state-sponsored thugs with no scruples, sent to take care of the delicate missions that required a subtle fist or two.

Tifa saw Cloud stiffen in the corner of her vision. He stared at the newcomers with his jaw clenched.

They strided up to the bar. The Turk on the left had a long red ponytail; the one on the right had no hair at all. He didn't take his sunglasses off, even in the dim light. "You see a girl come in here?"

"You'll have to be a bit more specific," Cloud said, cool as a cucumber.

The red-haired Turk held his hand up to his chest. "That high. Thin. Wutain?"

The bald one pulled out his phone and showed her a picture: the same one that had been in the Midgar Mirage that morning. Tifa squinted and tried to take in the details. "Are you serious? How are we supposed to tell from that?"

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. "Still. Look familiar?"

"Nope," Tifa said. "We haven't had anybody come in today."

"What about that drink?"

"It's mine." Cloud picked it up and took an exaggerated sip. "Drinking on the job."

Tifa shrugged. "Not much else to do on a Sunday. The bank threats scared all our customers anyway."

The red-haired one looked like he wanted to question them further, until he glanced at the clock behind Tifa's head. "Man, I'm tired. We've been chasin' her all day."

"What do you want her for?" Tifa asked.

"Not important." He turned to the bald one. "Want a drink?"

"Nah, we gotta report back." He slid a card across the counter. "Let us know if you see her. There might be money in it for you."

"Will do," Cloud said. Tifa could tell from the sound of his voice and the stiffness of his shoulders what his true answer was: _not a chance in hell_.

As soon as they left, Cloud peered underneath the bar. "What the hell are you doing?"

Reeve gingerly climbed out from behind the Karmotrine bottles. "I didn't want them knowing I'm here."

"Why?" Tifa asked.

"What if they recognized me? I didn't want to make weird small talk with them all night."

Well, alright then. "Boss! It's safe!"

The office door opened, revealing the teenager and a much happier-looking Barret.

“—It's old, so you can't run too many programs at the same time," she said. "You gotta get a new one if you wanna do that."

"Can't I just upgrade it?"

"Nah, all the components are built in. They make more money that way." She turned and gave Barret a big smile. "Thanks for hiding me!"

"Anytime." Barret yelled out to the bar. "Make this girl a drink! She fixed my laptop!"

Tifa wasn't expecting Barret's salvation to come in the form of a tiny troublemaker. The girl saddled up to the bar, smiling from ear to ear, visibly less distressed than when she first came in. "Thanks for hiding me! You really saved my butt!"

Tifa dove behind the bar and fished out a dusty 'kids' menu that listed all of Seventh Heaven's non-alcoholic drinks. It hadn't been touched in months, since responsible adults typically knew better than to take their kids to a dive bar (Marlene didn't count).

"What did the Turks want with you?" Cloud asked.

The teenager promptly spilled the beans. ”I hacked into the Department of Public Safety’s servers and sent their leader's bank statements to the Midgar Mirage," she chirped, voice light as a feather. "He's been getting a lot of strange transfers lately." She turned to Reeve. "Hi kitty!"

If the girl's cyber-crimes against Shinra bothered him, he didn't show it. "Hi!"

"What are you drinking?"

"Sugar Rush."

"That looks good." She scanned the menu. "Can I have one—" She paused. "Actually, what's a 'Golden Flower'?"

"'Chocobo Juice'," Cloud corrected.

Whoops. That drink had non-optional Karmotrine in it. "Shut up! That's not supposed to be on there!” Tifa hissed at Cloud. She turned back to the teenager. “Sugar Rush it is!”

Cloud got to work on the drink while Tifa took in the girl's appearance. She glanced around the bar with the eyes of a person looking to create mischief. She was also scarily thin, which gave Tifa pause. "What's your name?" Tifa asked.

"Yuffie!" She raised her hand in a mock-salute. "Local troublemaker, at your service!"

Cloud slid the Sugar Rush (sans Karmotrine) across the bar. "You probably shouldn't admit that to people."

"Why? I doubt anybody decent comes here. You can tell by the look of this place."

Reeve, mid-sip, choked on his drink. Yuffie glanced over at him and exaggeratedly patted him on the back. "Aren't you a robot?"

"Er, kinda—" Reeve coughed. "I control this body remotely."

"Why a cat?"

"I feel more comfortable this way. Like my true self." Reeve stood up straight.

"It's a very cute 'true self'," Yuffie admitted. She took a sip of her drink. "How does the drinking work?"

"Slows down my motors. The technology is so advanced that I feel everything. Drunkenness, pain..."

"Couldn't you just manually slow them down yourself?"

"It's a 'locked feature'," Reeve said, making airquotes with his tiny paws. "I can't control it myself."

"Didn't Cid offer to unlock that for you?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, but even if he could figure it out, I don't think I'd do it," Reeve said. "I like coming here. The drinks are good."

"The drinks _are_ good," Yuffie whistled, impressed. "You can't even taste the alcohol."

Tifa tilted her head. "There's no alcohol in that."

Yuffie glanced at the drink. "... There isn't?"

"How old are you?"

"I'm old enough!"

"Do you have ID?"

"Yeah!" Yuffie stood up and rifled through her cargo pants, emerging with an ID — an old-fashioned plastic thing from years past. The issuing country still said 'Wutai', a country that hadn't existed in over a decade. To Yuffie's credit, the thing _almost_ looked legitimate... except for the birthdate.

Tifa squinted and flicked the printed text with her fingernail. "This is written in pen."

Yuffie gasped and swiped it back. "Shit! I paid good money for that!"

"How much are fake IDs nowadays?" Reeve asked.

"And who still uses plastic?" Cloud asked, incredulous. "It's almost as ridiculous as carrying physical gil. You're just asking to get mugged."

"Four thousand gil, give or take, depending on the vendor," Yuffie muttered. "And they're easier to fake. Digital IDs are nearly impossible to fake with the encryption techniques they use."

Huh. ”I didn't know that," Tifa said.

"It's okay. I'm close to cracking it."

The door opened once again. Zack reappeared, this time dressed in a suede jacket and jeans. A massive gym bag was slung over his shoulder. "Hey!"

Cloud glanced at the clock. "It's close to closing," he said.

"Really? Damn. I rushed here as fast as I could." He strode up to the counter. "Could I get a drink in a sippy cup?"

Tifa shrugged. “It’s technically illegal, but I could make a Cobalt Velvet and stick it in a water bottle. It'll just look like one of those fancy waters."

"But you won't give me alcohol?" Yuffie whined.

" _No_."

"Are teenagers allowed in here?" Zack asked.

"This place is technically categorized as 'kid-friendly'," Reeve said. "I know because I discovered this place while trying to take my niece out for dinner."

"Boss miscategorized it when he was redoing the registration," Tifa explained. "Speaking of teenagers, could you see her home?"

Zack shrugged. "Sure."

"I can take care of myself!" Yuffie whined.

Tifa turned back to her. "Humor me? Please?"

Yuffie opened her mouth to argue, but Tifa took Cloud aside first. “Go with him. Try to get a look at where she lives. I'm worried."

"You can't save every homeless orphan, you know," Cloud whispered.

Tifa gave him a pitying look. "Please? For me?"

"How are you going to get home?"

She didn't really want to quote Yuffie, but she didn't have much of a choice. "I can take—"

"I'll walk Tifa home."

Tifa looked down and jumped. Reeve stood at their feet, having skittered over without either of them noticing. "It's on my way."

Cloud looked at him, then Tifa, then sighed. He walked around the bar. "Gimme a sec. I need my coat."

Zack, Cloud and Yuffie gathered in front of the door. Zack rubbed the back of his head. "My head still hurts from the helmet thing. We crashed pretty hard together."

"Helmet thing?" Yuffie asked.

Zack reached into his bag and pulled the helmet out. "I'm pretty sure we cracked it, actually."

Yuffie's eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of her skull. "Is that a White Knight helmet?"

"Yep, my old work helmet." Zack inspected it. "Well, it was pretty much garbage anyway—"

Tifa thought that 'White Knight' would've given Yuffie pause, given her propensity for trouble, but she clearly had other things on her mind. "Can I have it?"

"Eh? Yeah, sure." Zack handed it to her. "All yours."

They took off. Yuffie clutched the helmet to her body as if she were guarding a baby.

Reeve watched them go. "Well, that thing's getting sold."

"Or she's gonna try and crack all its secrets," Tifa said.

"True. It _is_ proprietary technology." He turned to her. "Ready?"

* * *

Reeve dropped her off in front of her apartment. It wasn't even _remotely_ on his way, since he apparently lived in Sector 3, but he insisted it was fine. Tifa waved to him as he ran down the icy sidewalk on all fours.

Would he be alright? He was so tiny. Anybody could just... pick him up and run off. Though somehow she knew, deep down, that Reeve was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

She made her way up to the apartment. As Tifa ran for the space heater, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, expecting to see a text from Cloud, but she saw something else instead.

> [558-445-3443] did you get home okay?

What on earth? Tifa didn't know that number.

> [Tifa] who is this?

The next text came through frighteningly fast.

> [558-445-3443] oh sorry
> 
> [558-445-3443] it's aerith
> 
> [558-445-3443] zack gave me your number
> 
> [558-445-3443] he got it from cloud
> 
> [558-445-3443] I think?

Tifa's breath quickened as she watched the texts come in, faster than she could keep up with them. She couldn't help but smile at the flurry.

> [558-445-3443] I'm the girl from yesterday
> 
> [558-445-3443] with the flowers
> 
> [558-445-3443] do you remember me?

She strolled into her bedroom, eyes still on her phone, and flopped onto her bed. Pudding meowed from the blankets.

> [Tifa] yeah, of course I do
> 
> [Aerith ♡] the chocobo juice
> 
> [Aerith ♡] ok great! zack told me about the helmet
> 
> [Aerith ♡] and the cat?
> 
> [Aerith ♡] idk what he meant by that but
> 
> [Aerith ♡] do you work on tuesday?
> 
> [Aerith ♡] I wanna come by
> 
> [Aerith ♡] do you like tea?
> 
> [Aerith ♡] I make really good tea
> 
> [Aerith ♡] I know bringing tea to a bar is weird but it's perfect for the weather

Tifa clutched her pillow and smiled.

She didn't really drink tea, but she was thinking of starting.


	3. Marsblast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six Bronson Extract, one Powdered Delta, four Flanergide, and two Karmotrine. Blended. 
> 
> "One of these is enough to leave your face red like the actual planet."
> 
> Spicy, manly, and strong. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to Bel ([@belderiver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/belderiver/)), Pudding's biggest fan, for helping me with Sephiroth's characterization. You're the best!
> 
> Fun fact: the Lilim (cyborgs) in this chapter came dangerously close to being called "Cetrons", based on the lifeform their creator wanted to emulate. Still not sure if I made the right decision in keeping their original VA-11 Hall-A name (oh, who am I kidding, I definitely did).

Monday, December 21st, 2108

Tifa was notoriously difficult to rouse in the mornings. Every few weeks, she'd forget to set her alarm, and Cloud would have to risk life and limb to shake her awake. It was a rare day (on a _Monday_ , no less) that Tifa woke up well-rested. It was even rarer that she rose before Cloud did. 

The first thing she noticed was the phone on her pillow, displaying a message from late last night:

> [Aerith  ♡ ] sleep well, I'll see you on tuesday  ♡

... And the lack of sound coming from the living room. Tifa wrapped herself in a blanket and padded outside. Had Cloud come home last night? His bedroom door was closed, so he must have. Right?

The living room, like always, was freezing. It didn't matter that it was mid-day, nor that they had two space heaters that constantly ran, fire hazards be damned; the cold air leaked through every crack. Tifa ran across the living room and slid underneath the kotatsu. Maybe she and Cloud could find a better place to live? Probably not, but it never hurt to dream.

Something shifted around her legs. Tifa lifted the blanket. "Hello, you."

Pudding, as cute and fat as ever, yawned and climbed onto her back, as desperate for warmth as she was. Tifa kicked the kotatsu on and grabbed her phone, intent on reading the news while she waited for her limbs to unthaw. 

The front page of the Midgar Mirage was taken up by a massive headline. Tifa rubbed her eyes as she took in the flashing red text. 

> ** The Midgar Mirage **
> 
> ** Your local source for 100% unbiased news **
> 
> Celebrity war hero Sephiroth resigns from his post
> 
> _Sephiroth, head of SOLDIER and renowned war hero, has resigned from his post. The reasons for his resignation are unknown at this time. Shinra is expected to announce his replacement in the coming days._
> 
> _The announcement was made in response to a leak that spread throughout Neo-Midgar social media channels late last night. danger/u/ user sephys_girl58 was the first to post the leak, originated by famed hacker white_r0se:_

The article showed a screenshot of the post in question: a brief blurb, followed by a picture of a messy resignation letter that looked as if it had been written in anger. The fury radiated off of every harsh pen stroke. Tifa looked at the ridiculous username — sephys_girl, really? — and then at the app itself. She'd never been on danger/u/, but she'd heard customers talk about it. It was a forum-based app, right? People talked on it. 

Tifa flipped through the rest of the articles. None of them interested her at all. Besides, her limbs hadn't quite unthawed yet. 

... Why not? What was the harm?

The app took two minutes to download on her shoddy internet connection. She glanced up warily at Cloud's closed door before opening it. Hopefully he wouldn't rouse for some time. 

The front page, much like the Mirage, was chock-full of all things Sephiroth. Not knowing where to begin, Tifa clicked on the first post.

> ** danger/u/ — DANGEROUS OPINIONS **
> 
> Sephiroth's resigning
> 
> itshappening.jpeg
> 
> holy shit
> 
> I screamed when I saw the news
> 
> what a monumental day, let's go lads we're makin danger/u/ history
> 
> you're acting like this is a good thing
> 
> isn't it? he's a fascist fuckwit like all the others
> 
> that's my husband you're talking about
> 
> girl I have bad news for you
> 
> what
> 
> sephiroth will never fuck you
> 
> does anybody have that pic from a few years back? the one from the military march
> 
> the ass pic?
> 
> yeah
> 
> the only time you can see it without the long jacket

Tifa scrolled down and stared at what was, indeed, a hi-res picture of Sephiroth's ass in tight uniform pants. His hair had been tied up, showing off his… assets… for all the world to see.

> look at those buns!!
> 
> thank you based god, wherever you are
> 
> I heard it was one of his assistants
> 
> yeah they got fired after
> 
> i'm gonna miss that ass
> 
> guys he's not dead
> 
> he might as well be
> 
> THIS THREAD IS CLOSED. 

A pair of bare feet stopped in front of Tifa's face. Cloud stood over her and stared at the phone screen with wide eyes. The image description — "Sephiroth's tasty buns" — was blown up on the display.

"It's not what it looks like," Tifa said.

Cloud spun on his heel and went back into his bedroom. Tifa swore and sat up. "Damn it."

They got ready in absolute silence. Cloud was so distracted by the news that he didn't make breakfast. Tifa poured some cereal and handed him a bowl, but most of it went uneaten before he dumped it in the trash. As Tifa rifled through her room, looking for a pair of fur-less stockings, she cursed herself. How could she be so careless? She knew that seeing Sephiroth's name would put Cloud in a bad mood; she'd learnt that very early on in their roommate-ship. It seemed curiosity truly did kill the cat, and Tifa was very much prepared to kill their actual cat if he didn't stop _sleeping on her damn clothes_.

As they walked to the train station, passing by newsstands and endless TVs, Tifa realized that trying to hide the news would've been in vain. Every screen, headline and person was talking about Sephiroth.

They reached the train station and looked at the overhead TVs for the next train — the words "Sephiroth resigns" flashed underneath the list of times. Every app Tifa opened on the ride talked about it in some way. Even her _weather app_ displayed "BREAKING NEWS: SHINRA ANNOUNCES SEPHIROTH'S RESIGNATION" under "-5℃, cloudy, chance of mako-infused snowfall, shelter under plate advisable". Every crowd they passed by on the street were whispering the same things. "Why would he resign? He's so young!"

Tifa took a quick peak at danger/u/ as they waited at an intersection. The posts had shifted in order. The first one now read "guys, white_r0se just leaked his address".

> he lives at the shiva building, apt 684, topside sector 7
> 
> guys I know the doorman, he's giving me the back door code
> 
> danger/u/ meetup in two hours!!!!

What a mess.

By the time they reached Seventh Heaven, Cloud was in a right pissed-off state. Tifa hastily flung her coat in the back and poked her head into the office. "Cloud's in a mood."

"What else is new?" Barret muttered. He poked away at the laptop with a little more confidence than yesterday. "What happened?"

Marlene poked her head out of her colouring book. She laid on the ground, surrounded by every toy Tifa, Cloud and Barret could scrounge to get her with their pocket change. "Hi Tifa."

Tifa beamed. "Hi, sweetie." She looked up at Barret. "Sephiroth."

"Right, that." Barret sighed. "Y'can't fuckin'—" He coughed. "You can't _freakin'_ escape it. Even the cartoon channel was talkin' about it."

Marlene grabbed one of her nearby toys. "Daddy? Do I need to throw him out now?" 

"No honey, it's fine."

Tifa sighed. "What a disaster."

"Maybe he'll tell us what's up?"

"I doubt it," Tifa grumbled. "He's clammed right up. Didn't even eat his cereal."

Somebody banged on the far wall. "I can hear you!" Cloud yelled.

"Why don't you tell us what's up?" Barret hollered.

" _NOTHING IS UP!_ "

"Yeah, somethin's up." Barret said. "First the black-haired fuckboy—" He cleared his throat. "The black-haired _friend_ and now this. Whatever will it be next?"

Barret loved Cloud, but he also loved to rile him up. Tifa carefully extracted herself from the situation before she could bear witness to their inevitable blowout.

Tifa turned the TV on while she restocked. Every channel, no matter the subject, showed the same breaking news. After a minute of flipping, she settled on a channel showing nonstop Mega-Christmas infomercials. Tifa wiped the countertops while a high-pitched saleswoman dithered on in the background. "NanoCamo! Change the color of your walls with your smartphone! Only 1500 gil! The perfect Mega-Christmas gift for your indecisive loved ones!"

Tifa glanced at the bathroom door. Cloud was notoriously indecisive, but it'd be a cold day in hell before she spent 1500 gil on his mopey butt.

The next infomercial was more to Tifa's tastes: a selection of glass flowers, though the chances of them being 100% glass and not cheap acrylic were slim. At that moment, her phone buzzed, as if bid by the screeching saleswoman. Tifa quickly pulled it out. 

> [Aerith  ♡ ] how's work?
> 
> [Tifa] not good. cloud's in a mood

The door opened. Tifa quickly shoved her phone in her pocket. She had gotten so used to serving regulars that the newcomer took her aback, much like Aerith and Zack had done days before; the increasing unrest on the streets meant they didn't get as much foot traffic as they used to. Tifa glanced at him, taking in his appearance, and froze once she saw the glint of metal. The neon lights reflected off his face, making him look distinctly inhuman, as if he were made of diamond.

_Great. A Lilim._

An autonomous humanoid robot, native to Neo-Midgar. They were derived from Lilith, the first AI, designed by a mad Shinra scientist a hundred years before. Their programming and design had evolved to the point where they were barely indistinguishable from humans (aside from the metal skin and dry eyes); Tifa, however, could always tell, no matter how convincing they were. Growing up in a small town, away from Neo-Midgar and its absurd technologies, had given her detection skills that even Cloud couldn't match. Even the slightest movements of their hands were enough to tip her off. 

No matter how many Lilim Tifa served, she had never been comfortable with them. Only Reeve passed muster, and that was because he was controlled by a real, fleshy human on the other end, even though that human lived in his mother's basement and never saw the light of day.

"Excuse me," he said, as polite as could be, "I'm sorry to bother you."

Years of bartending had conditioned Tifa to be as pleasant as possible, even in the creepiest of situations. "Don't be sorry. How can I help you?"

"Do you happen to know a nearby technician? Preferably one under five hundred gil."

"Um—" She didn't know a ton of Lilim technicians. "You'd be better off checking Sector 3. That's where all the tech shops are."

"I tried. It seems everybody's taken the day off to do their Mega-Christmas shopping."

"Their—" Tifa gasped. "I forgot!"

"Forgot?"

Tifa yelled to the back. "Cloud! We have to go shopping tomorrow!"

It took him a moment to respond. "... Fine," he finally said.

The Lilim took a seat. Tifa took in his appearance: he had long black hair, tied back by a red bandana, with red and black clothing to match. He somehow managed to look absolutely exhausted, even as a synthetic; partly because of his mannerisms, but even his facial expressions gave off that impression. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Vincent," he said. "May I have a menu? I've been wandering around for hours."

Tifa handed him one. He scanned it for approximately three seconds before coming to a decision. "Sparkle Star, please."

"Karmotrine?"

"Please."

The drink choice was a bit odd, but Tifa wasn't one to judge. A Sparkle Star had two Adelhyde and one Powdered Delta; all aged, so Tifa had to sift through the bottles before she found the right kinds. Two shots of Karmotrine finished the drink. The end result was a tall, green slushie that dripped down the sides. Tifa had recently discovered that Adelhyde could foam if she mixed it well enough, which delighted Marlene, who got all of the (non-alcoholic) Sparkle Stars her little heart desired.

Vincent went to pick up the drink with his right hand, then paused. He used his left one instead. "Is that the problem?" she asked, gesturing to his right hand. 

"Unfortunately. I injured it recently in a..." He sipped his drink. "... tiff."

Tifa's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Combat?"

"I wander. Help out where I can. An occasional bounty hunter."

A more thorough look at his person revealed a gun holster, hidden underneath the drape of his cape. "Never had a bounty hunter in here before," she whistled.

"I would hope not. The only reason I've shown my face here is because I'm desperate."

"And you couldn't find _anybody_?"

He took another sip before responding. "There were rumours of terrorist attacks on the lower sectors. It seems everybody's coming back out of their shells."

"I'm surprised anybody went in to begin with. We're not exactly strangers to danger in this city."

As soon as she said that, something loud banged above their heads, as if Neo-Midgar was trying to prove her point. Nobody in the bar thought to flinch; they'd long become accustomed to such violent commotion. 

"Gunshots!" Barret yelled.

"No, firecrackers," Cloud shouted back. 

"Wanna go check it out?"

"Hell no."

Tifa turned back to Vincent. "Sorry. They have a running bet on what those sounds are. We get bored here." 

"To be fair, I think that was a hover-car backfiring."

"Not you too," she groaned. 

Vincent tried to grab the drink with his right hand again, as if he were operating purely on instinct (or programming — Tifa wasn't quite sure which). He _was_ a very polite individual, and even Tifa had to admit she felt bad for him. "Gimme a minute."

She ran to the back office and collided with Barret, who was on his way out. "I'm gonna check that sound out. I've got fifty gil ridin’ on this."

"Is Cid coming in today?"

Barret paused. "No idea. Why?"

Tifa gestured to the bar. "Lilim customer needs repairs. Nobody's open."

"You're being sympathetic to a Lilim?"

Tifa gave the smallest of shrugs, and Barret picked up his phone. "I'll call him."

As Tifa walked back to the bar, her phone buzzed again. She quickly pulled it out. 

> | [Aerith  ♡ ] lace his drinks with karmotrine!! that'll make him happy

Yep. She was _definitely_ not doing that. 

Vincent was waiting patiently for her return. "We have a regular who, er, dabbles in Lilim repair," she explained. "My boss is gonna see if he's in Neo-Midgar today."

"Is he a technician?"

"He's a scavenger. They're working on Wutai at the moment. He owns his own plane, so he runs salvage to and from." 

"Yes. The earthquake. They've been working on that for a long time."

The 'earthquake'. Everybody in Neo-Midgar knew the truth. "Well, they did a lot of damage," Tifa muttered. “He’ll be at it for a while yet.”

Cloud came out of the bathroom for his usual mid-day Sugar Rush. Barret poked his head out of the front door and yelled inside. "Car crash! Somebody flew up and smashed into the plate."

"Damn," Cloud hissed. Tifa glanced at his drink and wondered if she could quickly throw some Karmotrine in it. 

"What did Cid say?" she asked Barret.

"He'll be here in ten minutes."

Tifa turned back to Vincent. "Would you like another Sparkle Star?"

"Please."

They waited for Cid in silence. Vincent worked on his second drink while Tifa served the few customers that drifted in. Cloud went back to finish his repairs. The infomercial channel, like all the others, had changed its programming to fit the current news — they were now advertising commemorative Sephiroth souvenirs. Tifa scowled as she watched the eccentric host showed off her wares. "And here we have a Sephiroth figurine..." She placed it beside the other select SOLDIER toys she'd brought to accompany him. "This is a collector's item. Its limbs have full range of movement—"

She shut the TV off. The stale, mundane techno music was the only thing breaking the silence. Vincent pulled out a cell phone and, to her amazement, started texting flawlessly with one hand. They stayed as they were until the door opened once more. 

"Yo!"

Cid ran in, looking as disheveled as ever. Since his usual salvage route took him halfway across the world, he didn't have much time for personal grooming… or that's what he claimed, at least. 

"I was planning on coming here," he explained. "Just got caught up with... stuff."

Though he was scruffy, Cid still looked leagues better than his first visit to Seventh Heaven. Months ago, he’d strolled in and taken refuge in a dark corner, lest anybody get a good look at him. Barret was the first to recognize him from the newsreels on Shinra's burgeoning aerospace program; a program that had been hastily decommissioned in the wake of newsworthy mismanagement. Back then, Cid had been heavily depressed, incapable of taking care of himself and the few things he held sacred. _This_ Cid was still a mess, but it was a remarkable improvement.

Cid beelined to the back hallway. "Cid!" she heard Marlene say. 

Tifa wondered if his friendship with Barret had anything to do with that. 

Seventh Heaven was in a unique position to offer Cid solace; close to downtown, but too far away to get a ton of foot traffic. What the bar lost in revenue was made up by their generous clients, all of whom valued their privacy immensely. Tifa knew, deep in her heart, that Cid would've never been so openly affectionate if he had the displeasure of an audience.

He walked back to the bar with Marlene in his arms. "Barret said something about a Lilim?"

"That'd be me," Vincent said. "Hello, little girl."

Marlene buried her face in Cid's chest. "Hi."

"I'm having trouble with my hand."

"Gotcha." Cid let Marlene down and pulled out a barstool. Tifa watched her like a hawk as she ran back down the hallway, wary of slips and falls. 

As soon as Marlene was safe, Tifa whipped up Cid's usual drink: a Gut Punch. Bitter, spicy, and most importantly, cheap. Tifa poured five shots of Bronson Extract, a shot of Flanergide, and five shots of Karmotrine into her shaker and gave it a good tumble. The end result was, like its name, a punch to the gut — a small glass of fire-red liquid that even Barret couldn't stomach. Cid drank them like water, but Tifa did her best not to judge.

Vincent extended his forearm and unattached it from the rest of his body. Tifa's mouth dropped as he handed it to Cid, who took it as if it were simply a piece of machinery and not a Lilim's severed limb.

Cid downed half of his Gut Punch before grabbing it from him. "What made it break?"

"Shot to the arm." Vincent pointed to the area in question with his other hand. "It hit the wrist spring. I replaced the outer plating, but the spring is misaligned."

"No shit," Cid whistled. "Why were you getting shot at?"

“I’m a bounty hunter. The culprit was my target,“ Vincent explained, nonchalant, as if he were describing the weather. "His bullet missed. Mine hit him head-on."

Cid hurled his bag onto the counter and rifled through it, emerging with a set of tools. 

"I can pay."

"Don't sweat it," he grunted. "Easy fix. Not worth charging for."

Vincent shrugged. "One technician in Sector 3 wanted to charge me two thousand gil just to look at it. The only technician I could find."

"They're fuckin' robbers, that's why." He took the flat end of a screwdriver and pried the plating off of the hand. "I got this."

Tifa smiled and left them to it. Cid could be kind, despite his rough exterior.

Aside from the occasional customer, there wasn't much else left to do, so Tifa started doing odd chores. Vincent and Cid chatted amongst themselves as Cid worked on Vincent's hand. Cloud emerged from the back and refilled his Sugar Rush.

"Barret asked me if I'd plaster some of the holes upstairs," he said. "Yell if you need me."

"Still at it?" Cid asked.

Cloud shrugged. "That White Knight raid really screwed us."

He took off, and Cid returned to his work. Vincent returned to his phone. Tifa returned to her scrubbing, and for a moment, everything seemed perfectly at peace. The streets were quiet, the other customers had left, and there weren't any damn Sephiroth figurine advertisements on TV anymore. Tifa made herself a Sparkle Star and smiled as it went down, relishing in this rare moment of tranquility.

She jinxed herself, of course. She always did. Her life never stayed calm for long, no matter how dearly she wished for it.

The first thing that greeted Tifa to his presence, even before he opened the door, was a blood-curdling aura that emanated from his person. Sephiroth's eyes swept the room, stopping at her, Cid and Vincent. After a brief pause, he strode in and sat down at the empty end of the bar. 

It took a moment for Tifa to understand just who she was looking at — she'd gotten so used to seeing his face on TV, and the real-life counterpart looked quite different. More tired. More irritated. More _normal_ , dressed in a grey jumper and black pants, though neither garment humanized him any. 

Vincent stood up and walked over. Tifa watched, stunned, as he grabbed Sephiroth's shoulder with his single working hand. "You came."

His voice was smoother than she expected. Tifa then realized she'd never heard Sephiroth speak before, not even on TV. "I had to. They swarmed my apartment building."

"The media?"

Tifa immediately knew what he was talking about. _No, the fangirls._

At that moment, something in Sephiroth's pocket vibrated. He pulled it out and put it to his ear in one fluid motion. The bar was just quiet enough that they could hear the person on the other end. "Hey, this is Jim from Shiva Apartment Services, returning your call. We'll still working on it—"

The phone landed roughly on the counter. Tifa was pretty sure she heard it crack. "Apartment security insisted on handling it," he muttered to Vincent. "It's been two hours."

"It's better that they handle it," Vincent reasoned.

" _They're in the vents._ "

"The media would not take kindly to you killing leagues of..." Vincent paused. "Enthusiasts."

"Then they better not follow me here."

Tifa blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "The vending machines will take care of them."

Sephiroth's eyes snapped over to her. Tifa's blood ran cold. "They're, um..." She gulped. "They're feisty."

"Don't they have an aggression setting?" Cid asked. "I think I remember that from when I set 'em up."

"Yeah, I think so," Tifa weakly said. "You could turn it up?"

Cid got up and ran out to the street. Vincent clapped Sephiroth's shoulder once more. "I'll join you in a bit. That man is fixing my hand."

Sephiroth nodded. Tifa walked over to him as Cid ran back inside, announcing that the vending machines had been set to ‘assault everybody' mode. Her mouth felt like sandpaper. "What'll it be?"

For a brief second, he looked lost. Had he ever been in a bar before? Tifa slid the drink menu across the counter. He gave it a passing glance. "What do you suggest?" he asked.

Tifa had an idea of what he might like, but she'd learned from Vincent to never make assumptions. "What sort of flavours do you like? Spicy, sweet, bitter—"

He handed the menu back to her. "Spicy. I'm not one for sweets."

Muscle memory continued to carry her. She grabbed the bottles and started pouring. Her chosen drink took more ingredients than a usual cocktail: six Bronson Extract, one Powdered Delta, four Flanergide and a splash of Karmotrine. The end result was a glowing red mixture, aptly named Marsblast, as if somebody had poured the planet into a glass. Tifa had seen plenty of people fall prey to its strength, but somehow, she knew Sephiroth would be able to handle it. 

She slid it across the counter. He grabbed it, inspected it, and subtly sniffed it before he remembered his manners. "Thank you." 

More time passed. Vincent watched patiently as Cid fiddled with his hand. Sephiroth silently sipped his drink, showing no reaction to the spicy ingredients. Tifa warily watched the back hallway, where the entrance to Barret and Marlene's apartment was. If Cloud came down and saw Sephiroth, they'd all be screwed.

... Would they? What would he do, exactly? She had no idea what issue he had with the man, and she might never know, considering how tight-lipped he'd been over the entire affair. 

Barret left to put Marlene to bed. As he returned, he peeked out at the bar and retreated, slack-jawed, as he caught Tifa's gaze. He was clearly thinking the same thing as her. 

"Is that Sephiroth?!" he mouthed. Tifa shrugged and turned back to the bar.

Unfortunately, with so few customers, she didn’t have much to do. Tifa wiped some glasses and snuck glances at the clock beside the TV. If she was lucky, she'd get to sneak away for a quick break before the inevitable chaos began.

"Hi."

That voice was far too small and cute to have come from any of the men. Tifa glanced down at the floor. Marlene stood beside Sephiroth's stool and held something up for his inspection. "Marlene! You're supposed to be sleeping!" Tifa hissed.

Marlene, like every other indignant five year old, ignored Tifa's chastising tone. She recognized the toy in her hand — Marlene's favourite SOLDIER doll. The paint had rubbed off of it, leaving Sephiroth's face a blank slate. Barret normally wouldn't have tolerated a toy like that, but the three of them couldn't afford anything besides hand-me-downs, and beggars couldn't be choosers.

"It's you," she stated, very matter of fact.

Tifa's blood ran cold as she glanced at Sephiroth. Every instinct told her to run around the bar and grab Marlene, but something stopped her: the sight of Sephiroth reaching down and taking the toy from her hands. 

"It's my favourite."

He frowned as he investigated it. "Why?"

Marlene's voice was full of conviction. "It's the strongest. That's why it has the biggest wings! So it can protect us." Marlene looked at something at her hand. “His wing fell out, though,” she mumbled, looking glum. 

A giant, foldable wing burst from the toy, making it wider than it was tall. The wings were a standard-issue SOLDIER augmentation, received at promotion, and part of the reason why the public revered them so much. They were literal angels, sent to protect the people from harm — though anybody with two brain cells to rub together knew they did more maiming than mending. 

... Where _were_ his wings? Were they hidden under the tacky jumper? Tifa still couldn't quite get over the image of Sephiroth in casual wear. Did he wear pajamas to bed, like a normal person? Like she did?

The image of Sephiroth in fluffy yellow ducky pajamas faded as he reached for the wing in Marlene’s tiny hand. 

A few seconds of fiddling was all it took to reattach the wing. He then handed it back to Marlene, who looked at him as if he had handed her the most precious of jewels. 

"Thank you," she whispered. She immediately turned on her heels and ran, as if Sephiroth might take it away if she lingered. "Daddy!" she yelled, as she bound up the steps to the apartment. "Look! I can't wait to tell Betty—"

Sephiroth turned back to his drink. Slowly, Tifa's blood started to thaw. "You didn't have to do that."

"I'd much rather deal with people like her than the ones infesting my apartment."

_And the ones discussing your ass on the internet_ , Tifa thought. She still couldn’t believe the posts she’d read that morning. "Another Marsblast?"

He nodded, and she quickly whipped up the drink. Tifa wandered over to Cid, who caught her eye as she came closer. They were both thinking the exact same thing.

"That's the happiest I've seen her in months," Cid whispered.

"Since Myrna died," Tifa whispered back. "It's a Mega-Christmas miracle."

"Myrna?" Vincent asked.

“Her mum. She passed six months ago,” Cid answered.

“How did she die?”

Talking about it never got any easier, no matter how much time had passed. Tifa laid her hand over her chest. "Nanomachine rejection. Nobody knew she had it. She just... had a heart attack one day. Here one day, gone the next."

Vincent nodded, deep in thought. "A modern-day tragedy. We never used to have to worry about such things."

"Only had those nanobots infectin’ our blood for what, fifty years?" Cid grunted, screw in his mouth. "Imagine livin' without 'em. Bein' able to go wherever you want without the government knowin'."

Beside Tifa, Sephiroth softly laughed. The idea was truly preposterous. If such a world existed, Tifa doubted any of them would ever see it in their lifetimes. 

She took a look at the bar. Sephiroth had a full Marsblast, Cid was still picking away at Vincent's disembodied hand, and Vincent still had two-thirds of his Sparkle Star left. Tifa quickly whipped up another Gut Punch and set it in front of Cid. "I'm going on break. Yell if anybody else comes in."

"Gotcha," Cid said. Tifa grabbed her coat and escaped out the back door, letting the cold air freeze her turbulent thoughts.

* * *

Cloud was many things to Tifa. A friend; a roommate; a reluctant chef for her grumpy morning self. A companion; a shoulder to cry on; a person to bear witness to her deepest and darkest thoughts. However, in that regard, their friendship was a bit one sided. For all that Tifa bore her soul to Cloud, he rarely did the same in return.

His life was a mystery to her. It had always been that way, she supposed; they'd known each other briefly as children, but he had run away to Neo-Midgar before she could ever truly get to know him. Nobody had any idea of why he had left — all 'prospects' were in Neo-Midgar, he could've left to become a burlesque dancer for all she knew — but his mother had become a recluse afterwards, and Tifa had never found the opportunity to ask her. It wasn't long until Tifa followed him, shortly after the death of her father, in search of her own prospects.

Months had passed before she finally ran across him. He'd come into Seventh Heaven late one night, and Tifa knew, just by the look of him, that whatever he had planned had gone terribly awry. 

He was weary. Hopeless. His clothes were as dirty as the rest of him. He had no money, so Tifa took pity on him and plied him with as many drinks as she could afford to give him for free. After two Marsblasts, roughly choked down (Tifa offered to make him something else, but he insisted on them), he finally admitted that he was out of a job. A quick word with Myrna was all that it took to graduate him from a distant childhood friend to a coworker. A look at his living situation was all it took to make him a roommate.

What had happened to him? She'd knitted together a vague idea from Cloud's eccentricities, but even that didn't give her the full picture. Why did he hate the White Knights so much? Everybody in Neo-Midgar did, but his hatred seemed personal. Why did he loathe Sephiroth, a distant figure whom he'd likely never met? Why had he reacted so venomously to Zack, a person from his past, who was one of the nicest customers Tifa had ever served? None of it made sense — until Tifa walked back in, fresh from her break, and saw Cloud standing across from Sephiroth. Only then did the pieces start to knit themselves together.

She walked up to Vincent and Cid. "What's going on?" she whispered.

"They're talking about something,” Cid said. “Cloud seems pissed." 

Sephiroth's half-empty glass sat in front of him. "So we agree, then, that the White Knights are corrupt."

"Yes."

"We agree that they don't serve society as they should."

Cloud grit his teeth. "Yes, obviously. Everybody in Neo-Midgar knows that." 

"Then why complain?"

Cloud blinked. "What?"

"You claim to hate the group I barred you from joining. Why complain? I did you a favour."

The silence hung in the air. Tifa, Cid and Vincent waited for Cloud's response. 

"... I thought I could've made a difference," he finally admitted. The worst were quiet, barely over a whisper, as if he couldn't believe he had ever thought them true.

If Cloud deserved pity, Sephiroth clearly wasn't willing to give him any. He downed the rest of the Marsblast and placed the glass in front of him. "The bill."

Cloud reached for the payment terminal and furiously tapped the screen. He held it out to Sephiroth, who held his phone over it until it vibrated. Tifa stole a quick look at his screen — it had indeed shattered.

Sephiroth gave a small nod to Vincent and departed. As soon as the door shut behind him, Cloud sneered. "What an asshole."

Tifa rolled her eyes and grabbed the terminal. "He wasn't _that_ bad," she muttered. "Better than the brain in a jar."

"Are you kidding? At least the brain said 'please'—"

"Would you rather have the brain—" Tifa turned the terminal around. "—or a customer that tips 150% percent on his bill?"

The numbers didn't lie. A dozen emotions flitted over his face — shock, despair, fury, the slightest bit of gratefulness, and then fury again. "That _asshole_! He only did that because he pities us!"

"Maybe he liked the company," Vincent mused. 

Cid shrugged. "No pleasin' some of 'em, I suppose."

* * *

Tifa wracked her brain on the train ride home. What could they buy? There were so many possibilities. Mega-Christmas gifts? A new TV? Groceries? The money should’ve gone into savings, but Cloud was clearly in need of a pick-me-up.

As they passed by the discount store on their way home, Tifa finally decided what to buy. Something that would lift her spirits and make Cloud a little less mopey. 

"Good timing, I was just about to close," the clerk said.

Tifa skipped to the back. The bottle had been sitting there for weeks with her name on it. 

Rum. _Real_ rum. Shitty, low-grade rum that no sane person would want, but rum nonetheless. 

Tifa, full of excitement, danced up to the counter and gently set it down at the cash. "I'll take this!" 

And just like that, their tip money was gone. Was it worth it, though? Absolutely.

They eventually found themselves underneath the kotatsu. The rum heated Tifa's limbs, and the frigid air in their living room faded away. For a brief moment, she truly knew what it felt like to be warm.

It took three glasses before Cloud opened up. He laid on his back and stared at the ceiling as he composed his thoughts. "I wanted to be a White Knight," he finally said.

Tifa nodded. She'd gathered that much. "But you didn't become one."

He leaned on his elbows and reached for his glass. "They threw me out just before training finished. I didn't..." Rum dribbled down his shirt. "... I failed something. Some sort of final psychological test. They didn't actually say, but that's what the cadets taunted me with." 

"But you were almost done," Tifa mumbled. 

"They make exceptions sometimes. SOLDIER votes on them. Sephiroth was the tie-breaker.” He laid back down. "I could've re-trained for something else. I could’ve… pushed some paperwork around. But because he voted 'no'..."

"You lost everything."

Cloud laughed. "They kept my White Knight suit so I couldn't sell it.” He picked up his drink again. “Honestly? Asshole's right. I'm glad I'm not a White Knight, but I couldn't stand—" Another sip. "— _failing_ at something. I hated it." He sighed. “My mom still doesn't know.”

Tifa’s eyes snapped open. “Your mom still thinks you’re a White Knight?”

He nodded. “She didn't want me to go. She’d probably be overjoyed to hear the news, but—“

“You don’t want to admit your failures, I know,” Tifa interrupted. “You _have_ to tell her, Cloud.”

“I know.”

Tifa rolled onto her stomach and reached for the rum bottle. “Is that how you knew Zack?"

"He was the only friend I made during training." Cloud covered his face with his hands. "Gods, I treated him like shit. I just…” He gulped. “He got me through training. He stuck by me. And I liked him… I really, really did. I liked him too much. And I just—“

Tifa yawned. “You’ve got time to make it up to him.”

"You think so?"

"Mhmm," she slurred. "You’ve got the whole future ahead of you. Call him tomorrow..."

After a bit of convincing, he agreed. They kept drinking until the bottle was polished clean. Tifa fell asleep in a haze of warmth, with rum in her belly and her best friend by her side. 


	4. Crevice Spike

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two Powdered Delta, four Flanergide, and optional Karmotrine. Blended.
> 
> "It will knock the drunkenness out of you or knock you out cold."
> 
> Sour, manly, and sobering.

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2108

Tifa woke up to sunshine in her eyes.

The sky, vibrant blue, stretched out before her. Miles of sandy white beach surrounded her on all sides. The sun beamed down from above, heating her skin. She'd never felt so _content_ before, not even back home, back when she still had some semblance of security and a father who loved her with all his heart. Marlene’s laughter rose above the sound of crashing waves; she and Cloud were playing with a beachball nearby, feet dancing off the hot sand. Barret sat by and watched them, dressed in a sailor suit. Zack stood in the water and skimmed the oncoming waves with his hands. Vincent was burying Cid with sand; the glint of the sun off Vincent's metal skin threatened to blind them all. Sephiroth was there for some reason. Aerith laid to her right, stretched out on a beach chair.

The sight of Aerith, radiant in the dazzling sunlight, hair loose and skin kissed by the sun, made Tifa's breath catch in her throat. Aerith caught Tifa's glance and graced her with an indulgent smile. "You look pretty good in that swimsuit, you know."

Tifa opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out. She wanted to look down at her own attire, but the expression on Aerith's face had her transfixed. "I do?" she finally said, which made Aerith beam all the more.

Unfortunately, as Aerith opened her mouth to reply, a tint of blush on her cheeks, a loud ringtone came out instead.

Tifa, freshly pulled from paradise, heart beating in her chest, groaned against the rough carpet she'd fallen asleep on. Her phone laid nearby, surrounded by an empty rum bottle, two dirty glasses, and a full pitcher of water. The screen was flashing. Confused, she grabbed her phone and accepted the call. "... Hello?"

"You sound like shit!"

"... Barret?"

"Yeah! Sorry, didn't mean to say it like that. You comin' in?"

Tifa rubbed her eyes and glanced at the kitchen clock. It read 2:15 PM.

Whoops.

"I don't really care if you want a day off, but Cid's here and he's complainin' I can't make a Gut Punch for the life of me—"

"He's tried five times!" Cid yelled.

The sun in Tifa's eyes was making her head pound. "Barret, it's literally three ingredients," she whined.

"I keep mixin' up the aged Flanergide with the regular kind. The bottles look exactly the same—"

_"HRRK!"_

A loud snore interrupted Barret's rambling. Tifa jumped and looked to her right. Cloud laid beside her, flat on his back, submerged by the fluffy pink kotatsu comforter. The sounds that were coming from his open mouth were truly disturbing. Pudding snoozed on his chest, undisturbed by his grotesque sounds.

"The hell was that?" Barret asked.

"Even I heard that," Cid whistled. "Holy shit."

"We'll—" Another snore. "We'll be in in half an hour." She was going to _smother him_. "Don't give Cid alcohol poisoning."

"Don't worry, I'd need to find the Karmotrine to do that," Barret chirped. "Did we order any? We're screwed if we didn't—"

Tifa ended the call and nudged Cloud on the shoulder. "Cloud." Another nudge. "Cloud, we gotta get to work." She shook him harder. "Cloud! We need to pay rent!"

Cloud choked and jolted awake. For a brief moment, it sounded like he was choking on his own spit. "What the hell—" He glanced around the room, eyelids heavy with sleep, a look of confusion on his face. "What time is it?"

"2:15," Tifa moaned. "We're late..."

"What happened last night?"

"I don't remember." She rolled onto her stomach and reached for a glass. "Want some water? There's a pitcher here."

"Why isn't it in the fridge?"

" _I don't know_ ," Tifa groaned. "Do you want some or not?"

"Hungover you is worse than morning you," he muttered. He nudged Pudding onto the ground, crawled out from underneath the kotatsu, and took her offered glass without further complaint. "I'm gonna go find that shit we bought from that informercial."

"The hangover cure?"

"Yeah, that. Wherever it is—" He started sifting through their ridiculous collection of knickknacks. "When did we buy a shoulder massager?"

As Cloud chucked their belongings around, Tifa grabbed her phone. The screen opened to the last thing she'd viewed before she'd fallen asleep, deep in her cups.

> [Tifa] thanku for the ring again!!! look how prtetty it is

The ring in the picture had seen better days. Tifa glanced at her hand and swore — the poor thing was completely crushed.

> [Aerith ♡] lol you're welcome
> 
> [Tifa] youre too sweat
> 
> [Aerith ♡] are you drunk?
> 
> [Tifa] NO
> 
> [Tifa] yeah
> 
> [Tifa] myabe
> 
> [Tifa]
> 
> [Tifa] y
> 
> [Aerith ♡] you should go to bed
> 
> [Tifa] ok goodnight
> 
> [Aerith ♡] and drink some water
> 
> [Tifa] ok
> 
> [Tifa] how much
> 
> [Aerith ♡] all of it
> 
> [Tifa] ok

Cloud yelled to her from their tiny storage closet. "I found the case behind the chicken warmer—" He moved to stand and smacked his head on the shelf above his head. " _Shit!_ "

Tifa ignored him as he tumbled to the ground. What on earth was she _thinking?_

Blood pounded through her ears. Red-hot embarrassment spread to the tips of her limbs. Tifa was so lost in her humiliation that she didn't even notice Cloud approaching until he dropped a plastic bottle by her head. "It technically expired six months ago, but it's fine," he grunted.

"Kill me."

"I need you for rent money."

Figures. "Thanks, Cloud." She grabbed her phone, closed her chats, and opened her news articles.

> **The Midgar Mirage**
> 
> **Your local source for 100% unbiased news**
> 
> **Please donate to our freedom fund**
> 
> Shinra to begin sweep of independent Neo-Midgar media sources, plans to ‘make offers they can’t refuse'; the Mirage needs your support!
> 
> Local girl killed by truck confirmed as the latest reincarnation of Princess Sophie of the Kingdom of Gongaga
> 
> Local Lilim chooses to permanently retire to the cloud instead of spending Mega-Christmas holidays with extended family

She skimmed the last article. The thought of having a family at all was a welcoming thought. She glanced up at Cloud, the closest thing she had to family, who was currently fighting with a piece of toast. He'd do, she supposed.

There wasn't much else to read, so Tifa moved to get up — until a text came through her phone. She reluctantly opened it, afraid of who it was. Had Aerith messaged her to ask how her hangover was?

> INSPECTION TODAY AT 6 PM. SECURE YOUR BELONGINGS.

"We have to bring Pudding to work," Tifa announced.

Cloud, halfway through the bottle of Hangover-B-Gone, paused his chugging. "Why don't they ever give us any fucking notice?"

As Tifa finally got up and walked to her bedroom, the vague concept of _Tuesday_ rolled around in her head. Something was supposed to happen on Tuesday. What was Tuesday again? She downed the rest of the hangover drink and set the empty bottle on her dresser. As she looked in the mirror, examining her sallow skin, the answer dawned on her.

Aerith.

Aerith was coming to see her today, and Tifa looked like an absolute mess.

Tifa tore her bedroom apart until she found what she was looking for — an old, dusty makeup bag, untouched for months. The products inside were cheap, but they would do the trick. Hopefully. Did she even remember how to apply them?

"I got Pudding in the carrier," Cloud announced. "We gotta go!"

"One minute!"

She swiped some concealer underneath her eyes to hide her dark circles. Some blush to brighten up her ghastly complexion. Some mascara to make her eyes look less... bad. There wasn't anything she could do about the bloodshot eyes—

"Let's go! Cid's probably dead by now!"

"I'm almost done!"

Crap. The end result made her look a bit like a clown, but she didn't have time to fuss over the details. She swiped on her usual lipstick, pulled her hair in a ponytail, threw on her uniform and ran out the door. They bundled up and began their journey to the train station, with Pudding's carrier in Cloud's arms, covered by a threadbare blanket. Their precious fat cat didn't much like the cold, but they didn't have a choice. If he got out during an inspection, Tifa would never forgive herself.

It took them reaching the street to realize the Hangover-B-Gone did absolutely _nothing_. Everything was excruciating. The glint of the sun off of the freshly-fallen, mako-ladden snow was excruciating. The screeching sound of the train arriving was excruciating. The crowds, shouting about Mega-Christmas shopping and Sephiroth's departure and white_r0se's latest leaks were by far the most excruciating, because they reminded Tifa of why she and Cloud had drank so much in the first place.

The sound of the train arriving was enough to make Tifa wish for death. Nevertheless, they stumbled onto the train, and promptly took refuge in its darkest corner. Tifa sat down, leaned forward, and clutched her head. "How much did we waste on that stuff?"

"A thousand gil." Cloud rested his head on the carrier. "Could've bought a new TV with that."

They'd made plenty of stupid purchases, but that drink was by far the worst.

By the time they reached Seventh Heaven, they were both on death's door, begging for deliverance from their cruel, self-imposed fate. The vending machine tried to grab Tifa's ponytail, but Tifa, who was having _none_ of it today, delivered a crushing fist to its front, leaving it with a sizeable dent. The vending machine made a sad noise, but she didn't stick around for long enough to see what had become of it.

Barret's hollering greeted them as they crawled inside. He stood behind the bar, looking vaguely confused. Two bottles of Flanergide, nearly identical, sat in front of him. Cid was nursing a Gut Punch-like drink with a grimace on his face. "Seriously, can you tell the difference between these two? How can _anybody_ tell?" Barret asked. "Tifa! How do you tell the difference?"

"One's slightly darker."

Barret investigated them again. ”No it isn't," he declared. "Why are they like that, anyway?"

"It's a subtle difference. You wanted the cheap ones, remember?” She tore her coat off and began walking to the back. "Hi Cid.”

"Hey Tifa. You're lookin' rough."

 _That_ stopped her in her tracks. The makeup did nothing? "Really?"

"If it makes you feel better, Cloud looks worse," Barret pointed out.

Cloud ran by with Pudding’s carrier. Tifa threw her coat at him; he caught it with one smooth motion. “Fuck off.” 

"You take anythin' yet?" Barret asked.

"We took that..." Tifa’s throbbing brain made it hard to think. "That... stuff. It's on TV. Pink bottle. Tastes like nasty cherry cough syrup."

Cid's eyebrows furrowed. "The hangover drink?"

"That's just vitamins," Barret said. "You know you just piss it out, right?"

"I had no idea," Tifa hissed. And truly, she didn't.

Thankfully, her boss always took pity on her. ”I’ve got just the thing." Barret pointed to Cid. "Y'might want to make him a new Gut Punch while I go get it."

Barret took off, and Cid turned to her. "When was the last time you skipped work? You should’ve just let him flounder."

"That's mean of you," Tifa muttered. "Um. Mega-Christmas-Eve of 2107. Cloud and I had the stomach flu. Barret gave three customers alcohol poisoning—“

_"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"_

The front door slammed open and collided with the wall. A person burst through it, rolled into a ball. They tumbled against the floor until they came to a stop at the edge of the room. Yuffie emerged from the chaos, dishevelled, with a torn jacket and messy hair. "That vending machine nearly killed me!"

Cid stood up. "Shit. The aggression setting."

He grabbed his Gut Punch and bolted outside. Yuffie ran to the bar, arms trailing behind her body. The sheer energy emanating from her person made Tifa's head pound all the harder. "Did you punch the machine? That dent is huge!"

Tifa clutched her head. "Please... please quiet down..."

"What's with all the noise?"

Cloud finally returned from the upstairs apartment. Yuffie's jaw dropped as she turned to look at him. "Wow! You look like shit!"

"Why does nobody have any tact in this damn house?" Cloud grumbled.

"We're... under the weather," Tifa sniffed. "You don't need to know anything other than that."

"You're hungover, right? I'm not stupid.” Yuffie looked around the room. "Where's Barret?"

"He, er—"

Barret came barrelling back down the stairs, holding a pill bottle aloft as if it were a sacred treasure. "I've got just the thing—" He stopped short at the sight of Yuffie. The smile that graced his face was brilliant to behold. “You came back!"

"I brought you something!"

"No shit!" He walked over to the bar and set the bottle on its surface. "This is for you guys,” he said to Tifa and Cloud.

"Is that for their hangovers?" Yuffie asked.

"Yeah, they tried some folk remedy they saw on TV. It didn't work."

"It wasn't—" Tifa stopped herself and sighed. She didn't have the energy to argue. As Cloud reached for the remedy, Yuffie tore into her bag until she emerged with a rectangular object. She opened its lid, revealing it to be a laptop. A large, shiny laptop that looked nearly brand new.

"You're kiddin' me," Barret whistled. "Is that for me?"

"Yep! Top of the line!"

"Where'd you get it?"

"I stole it!"

Barret slapped her on the back. "Atta girl! Way to show it to the man!"

"I took it from a White Knight precinct! I skimmed it for incriminating material before I wiped it, obviously.”

Cloud, to Tifa's horror, seemed to be humouring Yuffie's antics. "Anything interesting?"

"Some evidence of money laundering, which isn't anything new." Yuffie sat back down, looking pleased with herself. "Can I get that sugar drink? I have money today!"

Barret set the laptop down and started rifling through its contents, eyes as large as saucers. "She ain't payin' for nothin'. This laptop's better than anythin’ I've ever owned!" 

"I also loaded some kids games on it," Yuffie said. "I'll bring a tablet next time."

As Tifa began working on the Sugar Rush, Barret went back upstairs. Cid stumbled back inside with an empty glass and a torn shirt. "Shouldn't have set that thing on maximum. It stole my fuckin' drink."

"Why was it set on maximum?" Yuffie asked. "I'm Yuffie, by the way."

"Cid."

Tifa glanced at Cloud, who seemed to be handling the concept of Sephiroth's existence better than he was yesterday — that, or he was too hungover to react properly. "Sephiroth came in here," he said, much to Tifa's surprise.

Yuffie nearly dropped her drink. "Seriously?"

"Yep. Just as much of an asshole as he is on TV."

She looked like she wanted to sink into the ground. “Was he angry?" she mumbled. "I didn't think he'd be so close."

"He said something about fangirls getting into his vents," Tifa shrugged. "Other than that? He was fine."

"In the vents?"

"Mhmm." Tifa fixed with her a steely look. " _Somebody_ leaked his address on the internet."

Yuffie took another look at her Sugar Rush and handed it back to Tifa. "I'd like Karmotrine in this, please."

"You're not old enough."

"I have ID!"

Tifa quirked her eyebrow in response, silently challenging her. Yuffie pulled out her phone and showed Tifa her new digital ID. "See?! I'm twenty-eight according to this."

"But I know you aren't, so no Karmotrine for you."

Cid, who had been silently watching the exchange with an amused expression, scoffed. "You're a stick in the mud, Tifa. What's the harm of one shot?"

"Stop being a bad influence!" Tifa hissed.

"Alright, alright, I'm going.” He slid off the stool and patted Yuffie on the back. "Keep trying, kid. She'll give in eventually."

"Will do! I wanna taste the forbidden fruit."

"Can't you just steal a bottle of Karmotrine from somewhere?" Cloud asked. "They sell them on every street corner."

"Yeah, but it's only special if Tifa makes it for me. That's the point.”

For a brief moment, Tifa felt her resolve weaken, until she remembered that her liquor license — and her livelihood — was on the line. " _No_."

The door flew open.

Nausea brewed in Tifa's stomach as her worst nightmare came to pass — Aerith, holding a flask full of tea, staring at Tifa as if she knew exactly what she'd gotten up to last night. Tifa felt stripped bare, and slightly sick, though she couldn't tell if that was from the hangover or from her nerves. Aerith raised an accusatory finger at her. "You're _hungover_."

Tifa started to duck behind the counter, until Cloud gave her an odd look and a nudge. She reluctantly rose to meet her demons. "Hey," she mumbled.

Yuffie turned around to greet her. "They partied last night."

"I see that," Aerith whistled. She set the flask down on the bar counter and started removing her winter gear. "What was the occasion?"

"Nothing important," Tifa muttered as she straightened back up. "I'm sorry about the ring."

Aerith paused, hands on her peacoat buttons. "The ring?"

“ _You know_. The flower ring. I…” It was hard to admit out loud. “I _crushed_ it."

The look on Aerith's face was reticent, as if she couldn't understand why Tifa was so troubled by it. She met Tifa's worried gaze with an impassive shrug. “I can always make you another one. The flowers are cheap to make, I just mark them up really high,“ Aerith winked. "It's good business." She turned to Yuffie. "I'm Aerith!"

Yuffie stared at the thermos with wide, shimmering eyes. Her words tumbled out of her mouth in a rush. "I'm Yuffie. What's in the flask? It smells great. Can I have some?"

"Strawberry tea. I brought milk too. _B-grade_ mock-milk, not the crappy F-grade milk that's so common nowadays.” Aerith turned to Tifa. "Do you guys have any mugs? I forgot to bring some.“

Cloud bent down and started rifling through their stock. The mugs he found had seen better days. Tifa hastily wiped the dust off before handing them to Aerith, who began pouring the tea. The smell of super-sweet strawberries filled the room, covering the dusty scent of the city. The B-grade milk lightened the colour to a light pink, akin to a milkshake.

The drink seemed to call to Tifa from another world. "I wonder if this is what real strawberries used to smell like," she asked, awestruck.

"How else would they come up with the scent?" Yuffie asked.

"Pulled it out of their ass," Cloud muttered. "How would we know the difference? Everything's been synthesized for decades."

"Where's your optimism?“ Aerith challenged him.

"It died a long time ago. This city has a tendency of doing that to you."

Tifa couldn't quite argue with him on that point. Neo-Midgar had long drained her dreams dry, leaving her with nothing but her trinkets and her bitterness. Waking up every morning often felt pointless; even with Barret, Marlene and Cloud in her lives, there didn’t seem to be much of a point to her continued existence. What did she do for the world, other than ply listless people with drinks? Play therapist to pessimistic engineers and depressed catboys?

That feeling, however, faded as she looked up at Aerith. Something in her gaze made Tifa doubt her internalized ennui, if only for a second. She couldn't say _why_ , but Cloud's words suddenly had less power than they had seconds ago.

"Maybe we'll see real strawberries one day," Yuffie pondered, sadness tinging her voice. Tifa could tell that neither she nor Cloud believed her words. Aerith, however, sipped her tea with the slightest of smiles. 

They finished their drinks in silence. Tifa scooped their mugs up and put them on the back counter. "Come on, I'll make some drinks," she said, voice artificially high, as she tried her best to lighten the mood. "More Sugar Rushes?"

“We could put Karmotrine in what’s left of the tea,” Yuffie added.

Before Tifa could tell her 'no,' Aerith interrupted with her own ways of lighting the mood. “So what's everybody getting for Mega-Christmas—"

Her sentence was cut off by a shrill alarm.

The phone in Tifa's pocket vibrated like crazy. Aerith, Cloud and Yuffie immediately whipped out their own phones to silence the noise. Nobody in the room was a stranger to Neo-Midgar's emergency alerts — they went off once a month, sometimes more, depending on which crime syndicate was currently fighting for turf. It had gotten to the point where nobody paid attention to the content of the alerts themselves — only to where they'd be stuck if the city went into yet another lockdown.

Cloud usually tried to keep a lid on his potty mouth at work, but he couldn't help himself this time. "For _fuck's_ sake."

> EMERGENCY ALERT: CRITICAL
> 
> Lockdown in effect for Sector 7. All residents and visitors are ordered to seek nearby shelter. Do not leave under any circumstances.

“Why don’t they ever tell us anything with these stupid alerts?” Tifa muttered. "It's just like the news."

"I wonder how long this one will last," Yuffie grumbled. "I got stuck in a convenience store last time. For twelve hours! With no food!"

"The convenience store didn't give you any food?" Aerith asked, appalled. "How mean."

"We were lucky enough to be home for that lockdown,” Tifa said. "Pudding was so confused that we were home for an entire day. Remember that?" she asked Cloud.

Cloud was busy making himself a Sugar Rush. He threw a shot of Karmotrine in, which Tifa couldn’t blame him for, since they definitely wouldn’t be getting any more customers tonight. “He kept hissing at us."

“Like he was saying ‘get out! This is my nap time!’” Tifa pointed to the back hallway. “We brought him today. He's upstairs.”

As everybody turned to follow her finger, Barret emerged from the dark staircase. "That alarm scared the shit out of us!" he boomed.

"How's Marlene?" Tifa asked.

"A bit freaked out, but she's with the cat. Chillest cat I've ever seen," he replied. "What's goin’ on? That fuckin' alarm even showed up on the laptop."

Tifa turned to Cloud. "Turn the news on.” 

Barret stomped to the front door to peer out of the window. Cloud reached for the controller and turned the TV on.

> _"The City of Neo-Midgar has announced a full lockdown for Sector 7. This is in response to developing terrorist activities at Titan Trust's headquarters in underside Sector 7. It's likely that other buildings in the area are also at risk—"_

Tifa’s hand, in the midst of making her own Sugar Rush, froze in mid-air.

> _"The perpetrators entered the bank at 8:05 PM. The bank's security system was triggered, sealing its doors. Approximately forty people are trapped inside—"_

The words 'Titan Trust' echoed through her head. Where had she heard them before?

> _"The White Knights Anti-Terrorism Unit is responding to the attack—"_

... And then it dawned on her.

> _"All citizens sheltering near the bank are being evacuated due to a potential bomb threat—"_

The air turned still as Aerith and Tifa looked at each other. Even without words, they knew exactly what the other was thinking.

“Zack,” Aerith whispered, hands over her mouth in shock.

Cloud's Sugar Rush dove to the floor, shattering upon impact, as he dashed towards the entrance. Tifa barely had time to comprehend his actions before he tore the front door open. Only Barret, still standing by the door, was able to grab him before he ran out into the street.

The sounds that came from Cloud were strangled and desperate. "Let go of me!"

Barret grunted as he held Cloud’s flailing body in his arms. The stronger his hold, the more Cloud struggled against it. The force of his movements nearly took Barret off his feet, but he held steady. "Are you insane?!" Barret barked.

_"Let go of me!"_

"You can't go out durin’ a lockdown! You'll get killed! You should fuckin' know better by now!"

Tifa, Yuffie and Aerith raced to the front of the bar. The first thing Tifa saw when she flipped the window shade open was the glint of white metal. A White Knight marched past the bar, only feet away from the entrance. Behind them were dozens of others, dressed in identical armour, all heading in the direction of Silence Street.

“Holy shit,” Yuffie whispered. "I've never seen so many in one place."

The weight of shock pressed down against Tifa's shoulders. If Cloud had fought against them, he very well could have been killed.

Only Aerith was able to talk Cloud down from plummeting over the edge. She stood in front of him, cool as a cucumber, and spoke to him in a low voice. ”He'll be okay," she insisted. "You have to believe it. Okay? He’s strong. He’s good at his job. Right?"

The look Cloud gave her threatened to break Tifa in half. In all of the years she'd known him, she had never seen such a look of profound grief on his face. His eyes glistened as he fell limp in Barret’s arms.

"Daddy?"

Marlene stood by the entrance of the hallway. The sound of her voice broke through the tension, and they all straightened up. "Sorry sweetie, we're just horsin' around,” Barret said. He set Cloud down and took him by the arm. "C'mon, let's go upstairs. You're all stayin' the night."

* * *

Tifa pushed her chicken towards Cloud. "You need to eat."

Cloud shoved her plate away. His own dinner sat in front of him, barely touched. The phone on the table was silent, and had been since the alert — though it didn't stop him from checking it every five seconds. “What if he's dead?" he muttered, just loud enough that only Tifa could hear him.

Tifa reached for Cloud’s clammy hand. "It's like Aerith said. You have to believe he's okay," Tifa insisted. "You _have_ to."

The sag of his shoulders said everything. She and Cloud had lived through enough tragedies that they knew exactly what Zack's chances were. Plenty of Seventh Heaven’s customers had come and gone, lost to the familiar brutality of the city. Neo-Midgar was a dangerous place to live, and they both knew it.

No amount of comfort could make Cloud hopeful. The White Knights had a high turnover rate for a reason.

Barret's meagre, threadbare apartment was far too small for six people, but they made it work. Tifa and Cloud sat at the dinner table, while Aerith and Yuffie kept Marlene company in the living room. Marlene sat on the floor, a purring Pudding in her lap. Tifa watched as she rhythmically dragged her hairbrush through his thick fur. "So what's the first thing you wanna do for our sleepover?" Aerith asked, voice light and airy. Tifa was almost impressed — she never would've guessed anything was wrong from Aerith's tone alone.

Barret paced around the apartment with boxes of Mega-Christmas decorations in his arms. A small crooked tree, hastily taped together, sat in the corner. Its tip drooped towards the ground, as if it were seconds away from breaking again. “Sorry this place is such a mess. I've been tryin' to get ready for the holidays."

"Do you need any help?" Yuffie asked.

"Maybe tomorrow, if we're still locked down," he replied. “Everybody should get to bed. It’s late!”

It _was_ late, according to regular people hours — nearly 11:15 PM. They'd been locked down for over three hours, and the chaos outside showed no signs of stopping. The living room had a good view of the street outside, and it was still crawling with White Knights, armed to the nines, marching in the direction of the bank. Titan Trust was only a few blocks away, and they could hear the pandemonium. Closed windows and loud voices could only do so much to drown out the sounds of disaster — especially when it shook the ground underneath their feet.

“What if we made a blanket fort to sleep in? We'll bring Pudding with us!" Yuffie said to Marlene.

Marlene yawned. "Okay."

Yuffie gently grabbed Marlene's hand and led her to Barret's bedroom. "Pudding! Come on!"

"He'll follow you if you shake the treat bag,” Marlene said. "Tifa taught me that."

They disappeared down the hallway. Tifa picked up Cloud's plate, now certain that he wouldn't touch another bite. "You should go lay down,” she told him.

Barret had offered his massive bed to Tifa, Aerith and Yuffie, leaving him and Cloud in the living room. After a moment of delay, Cloud picked himself up, grabbed his phone, and walked over to the couch. Tifa took their plates to the kitchen counter and started wrapping up the chicken for leftovers.

"I'll give you a hand,” a quiet voice said. Tifa looked over her shoulder and saw Aerith, hovering behind her with a strange look on her face. Tifa shuffled over and gave her access to the sink.

Together, they made their way through the pile of dishes. Tifa scrubbed them clean and handed them to Aerith, who dried them with a damp rag. Aerith stared at the plates, brow furrowed, lips downturned. Something was clearly on her mind. "What's wrong?" Tifa whispered.

As Aerith gathered her words, the drying rag fell out of her hands. “My parents are at Memorial Hospital. Two streets down from Titan Trust," she finally ground out. "I'm sure they'll be fine, but it's so close to the bank. If there's really a bomb, then—"

Tifa's heart plummeted at the sight of Aerith, so optimistic and sunny, wilting in the face of the city's cruelty.

"And Zack," she whispered. "He doesn't deserve this."

No, he didn't. None of them did.

Dirty water dripped down Tifa's wrists as she took Aerith's hands in her own. Aerith's eyes slowly lifted to meet her strong gaze. ”It's just like you said. We have to believe they're okay, right?" Tifa said, sincerity weighting her words. "We have to."

Aerith closed her eyes. After a moment, she exhaled and nodded. "Yeah, you're right,” she whispered.

They stood there, hands clasped together, until Aerith's warmth returned to her. She squeezed Tifa’s hands with her own. "I'm glad I'm here tonight. With you.“ Aerith smiled, melancholic. “I don’t think I could’ve gotten through this on my own.”

Neither could Tifa, if she was being honest with herself. "Why don't you go help Yuffie with the blanket fort? I'm gonna go and close everything down downstairs."

Aerith nodded and handed her the drying rag she'd dropped on the floor. As she left, Barret came into the kitchen, laptop in hand, and sat down at the table. The living room was bathed in darkness; Cloud laid on the couch, eyes wide open, with his phone on his chest.

"I'm gonna close down the bar," Tifa told Barret.

"Oh right, we left everythin’ on." Barret frowned. "Need help?"

"It's alright, I won't be long." She patted Barret on the back. "Look after Cloud."

* * *

Every surface sparkled by the time she was done. The counters, the stools, the glasses, the floors; Tifa poured soap on every single one of them and scrubbed them like her life depended on it. The feeling of the bristle brush beneath her hands was the only thing calming her turbulent thoughts.

It took until 3 AM — hours after she began her deep cleaning, aided by sips of Karmotrine — for the noise outside to settle down. By the time she was done, Tifa could've heard a pin drop in the room. As she stood up from the ground, clutching her aching back, somebody barrelled down the stairs and flew across her freshly-waxed floors.

Tifa just barely caught a glimpse of blonde hair. “Cloud! The lockdown!" Tifa yelled.

“I know! I’ll be careful!"

He ran to the door, wrenched it open and ran outside. By the time Tifa made it to the street, intent on stopping him, he was nowhere to be found.

Tifa slammed the door shut, shut the lights off and stomped up the steps. She found Barret in the living room, bottle of Karmotrine open in front of him. “Cloud’s gone!”

"Yeah, I know. I saw him."

“What happened? You were supposed to keep him here!”

"He got a text. Probably from that black-haired kid." Barret shrugged. “Nothin’s gonna stop him. No point in tryin'.”

Tifa slowly exhaled and tried to calm herself. There wasn’t much of a point in chastising Barret — Cloud was as stubborn as a mule, and keeping him safe was an impossible task. She grabbed a glass from the cupboards and sat down on the couch. “I got a bit carried away downstairs,” she told him.

"I know. I didn’t bug you for a reason.”

"Why are you still awake?"

Barret picked up the Karmotrine bottle and studied the label as he gathered his words. “You know the reason why Marlene keeps carrying that damn doll around?"

"The Sephiroth doll?”

He filled her cup, then drank straight from the bottle. "She thinks it's gonna protect us. Like some sort of talisman. Told me that last night.“

The revelation weighed on Tifa’s heart. She thought Marlene just liked to brush his hair.

"What's life gonna be like for her when she grows up? Is she gonna have to deal with the same shit as us?" He set the bottle down and sighed. "I knew this city was bad, but if I'd known the whole of it, I would've stayed in Corel, Myrna be damned."

Tifa drained her glass in one fluid motion. “Why did you leave Corel, anyway?”

"Myrna figured Neo-Midgar would have better opportunities. That, and I got myself into a bit of trouble with the authorities." He refilled Tifa's glass for her. "These idiots have no idea how to plan a true rebellion."

The Karmotrine was making her a bit punchy. ”And _you_ would?"

"You wouldn't believe the shit I got into," he said. "Adoptin’ Marlene was the only thing that tempered me."

She leaned back on the couch and glanced up at the ceiling. “What would Myrna say if she could see us right now?”

"She'd tell us to do somethin’ or stop bitchin’,” Barret grumbled, "and she'd be right."

Tifa kicked the edge of the Mega-Christmas box that laid by her feet. "Maybe after the holidays,“ she joked.

The statement hung in the air. What _could_ they do? Not much of anything, if Tifa was going to be honest with herself — and based on the way Barret drained the Karmotrine bottle, he knew it too. How did one begin to fight a force as big as the city itself?

They were both eager to change the subject. “What are you and Cloud doing for the holidays?" Barret asked, readily ignoring the fact that Cloud might not be around to enjoy them.

"Staying in and watching cheesy movies under the kotatsu. What about you?"

Barret gestured to the endless boxes of ornaments. "Who knows?" 

Tifa had some fond memories of 2107’s Mega-Christmas. Myrna, an exceptionally generous woman, had plied them with as many cheap gifts as they could carry — she’d even bought Pudding a catnip toy to go under their tiny tree. Come to think of it, some of the clutter in their apartment was probably Myrna’s fault. “It’s your first holiday without her."

Barret nodded. "Marlene's just not the same. How could she be?" He sighed and kicked one of the boxes. "I'm tryin' to make it fun, but I have no idea what I'm doin'. Myrna always did the holiday stuff. I've already screwed up five batches of cookies."

"Might be your hands," Tifa teased. "I can't imagine it's easy trying to measure out a quarter of a teaspoon with them."

Barret laughed. "Yeah, you're right. Might be why I'm shit at makin' drinks too."

Tifa tilted her head. "The shots are measured out, though."

"Good point. Maybe I'm just cursed."

They sat together in silence. Tifa's mind whirled around, aided by the Karmotrine. There wasn't much she could do about the state of the world, but she could try and make things better for Marlene. "We could have a party."

"An employee party?" Barret shrugged. "Not a bad idea."

"No, a proper party. Like big families do. We could make food..." Her brow furrowed as she tried to think. "What do big families do on the twenty-fifth?"

Barret, now fully alert, sat up straight at the idea. "Open presents. We could spoil Marlene."

"Make a stocking? Fill it with candy."

"Bake cookies." Barret frowned. "Ya'll are gonna have to do that, though."

"Eat candy canes?" Tifa wrinkled her nose. "Maybe. I'm not a fan of peppermint."

"Hot chocolate?"

"So long as it doesn't have candy canes on it," Tifa insisted. "Mega-Christmas cake?"

Barret scowled at her. "With the fake nuts? Not in this house."

* * *

Tifa stumbled into Barret's room and froze. The barren, dank bedroom had been transformed into a magical world: in the corner sat a pillow fort, half the size of the room. Blankets hung off of the walls and the ceiling fan, held together by safety pins. Holiday lights were woven through the blankets, which made the entire thing look like a misshapen Mega-Christmas tree. The sight of it made Tifa smile, despite it all. 

Barret's dresser sat open in the corner. Tifa quickly sifted through its contents and changed into one of his t-shirts. The fabric swung around her knees as she approached the fort and crawled inside.

Soft blankets, squishy pillows and plushies decorated the inside of the fort. They'd stolen Barret's mattress to use as a makeshift futon; Yuffie was sprawled out on top of the mess, loudly snoring. Marlene on top of her, dead asleep, despite the noise. Mugs of hot chocolate sat precariously by their hands. Aerith laid on the right side, dressed in her own Barret nightgown, with Pudding by her feet. Tifa was delighted to see they'd left just enough space for her. 

Aerith stirred as Tifa laid down beside her. Tifa had to be careful not to tread on her loose hair. "There you are," she mumbled, eyes still closed.

"I got carried away downstairs," Tifa whispered.

Aerith lifted her arms, inviting Tifa to snuggle in beside her. Tifa, still a bit tipsy from the Karmotrine, eagerly took that opportunity. "Cloud left," Tifa told her.

"I wonder if he got some good news," Aerith chirped, ever optimistic.

Tifa smiled, hesitant, against her chest. The warmth of Aerith's embrace was better than any sleeping pill. ”Did you get a hold of your parents?" she yawned.

Aerith rested her chin on the top of Tifa's head. "Mhmm. Mama said they're ending the lockdown soon. S'all good."

As Tifa shifted around, trying to get comfortable, the rainbow lights came back into view, reminding her of her brilliant idea. "We're gonna have a Mega-Christmas party. Wanna come?"

"What time?"

"7 PM? We'll do dinner. And cookies. And..." Tifa yawned. "Hot chocolate. But no candy canes."

"Eggnog?"

"No idea how to make it, but I'm sure we can figure it out," Tifa shrugged. "Or buy it."

Aerith smiled and ran her fingers through Tifa's hair. "I'll bring some cookies.”

"Hey guys, can I come too?" Yuffie hissed. "Since you two won't shut the hell up.”

* * *

A few hours later, Tifa and Aerith woke up to the buzzing of their phones.

"What time is it?" Tifa croaked. The early vestiges of sunrise filled the fort, but Tifa was in no state to face the world just yet.

Aerith laid flat on her back, with Tifa on her chest. Her right arm, trapped by Tifa's body, flailed around as she searched for her phone. "I could tell you if you moved," Aerith grumbled.

"Mmm, don't think so," Tifa sighed. "I haven't been this comfy in years."

Nevertheless, Aerith continued her hunt, and eventually emerged with her phone. Blue light flooded the fort as she turned it on. "Tifa."

"Wha'?"

"Look."

The sight that awaited her would've made her jump for joy, but she was far too tired to do anything but smile. They'd both received a picture of Zack, very much alive, lying in a hospital bed, with Cloud sitting at his bedside. Zack was sticking his tongue out for the camera. Cloud was fast asleep, with his gaping maw open for everybody to see.

Aerith texted back with her free hand.

> [Aerith] ok
> 
> [Zack] ok??? just ok???

She flung the phone back into the blankets. "We'll deal with them tomorrow."

Tifa laughed, snuggled in, and fell back asleep.


	5. Sunshine Cloud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two Adelhyde, two Bronson Extract, and optional Karmotrine. On the rocks, blended.
> 
> "Tastes like old chocolate milk with its good smell intact. Some say it tastes like caramel too..."
> 
> Bitter, girly, and soft.

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2108

The scent of flowers spilled into her lungs. 

The sight that greeted Tifa that morning nearly made her forget about their dismal reality. Aerith laid beside her, sprawled out on the mattress, hair like a halo around her head. Soft blankets and plush pillows surrounded them on all sides. The Mega-Christmas lights twinkled above their heads, their beauty no less breathtaking in the daylight. 

_If I could wake up like this every day_ , Tifa thought, _I might actually be happy._

Aerith didn't seem like she'd be waking any time soon, and Tifa really didn't want to leave, so she grabbed her phone. The smell of pancakes wafted through the air. Somebody must've been making breakfast—

The clock read 12:30 PM. Making lunch, then.

> **The Midgar Mirage**
> 
> **Your local source of 100% unbiased news**
> 
> **Please donate to our freedom fund**
> 
> President Shinra reassures city residents in wake of Titan Trust attack; restrictions continue
> 
> Buck Chingle, author of “Pounded in the Butt by the Catastrophic Effects of Mako Energy”, releases highly-anticipated new novel “Slammed by the Substantial Amount of Press Generated by My Book ‘Pounded in the Butt by the Catastrophic Effects of Mako Energy’"
> 
> Midgar man caught illegally feeding wild chocobo resists arrest: “He’s a good boy… and he loves cheese bread"

"Cheese bread?"

Tifa smiled and looked over at Aerith. "Good morning."

"More like good afternoon," Aerith grumbled. "I never sleep this late."

"Welcome to bar life. I can't remember the last time I woke up before noon." Tifa shrugged. "You get used to it."

Aerith inched over and laid her head on Tifa's shoulder. She tapped the first article. Tifa scanned the text until she arrived at the end — she didn't much care what President Shinra had to say. 

> "The attack has claimed thirty lives — twenty-two civilians and eight White Knights. These figures are expected to rise as the day continues."

"And he says he wants to protect the city," Tifa muttered.

Aerith stifled a yawn. "Let's read the chocobo one next. I wanna find out what he did with all that cheese bread."

Unfortunately, they never got the chance. Marlene scrambled into the fort on all fours and announced her presence. "Daddy and Yuffie made pancakes!" 

Tifa stretched her arms. She would've given anything to stay in the fort, but real life called for them. "We'll be right there."

* * *

As Tifa walked into the living room, she had a hard time believing yesterday had ever happened. The apartment was awash with liveliness. Marlene sat in front of the TV, mesmerized by a holiday movie. Pudding laid at her feet, dressed as a Mega-Christmas gift. Marlene had covered him from head to toe in some wrapping bows she found nearby, and surprisingly, he didn't seem to mind. Yuffie sat at the kitchen table, still dressed in her baggy sleeping shirt, with Barret's laptop in front of her. She typed with one hand and shoved pancakes into her gaping maw with the other.

She waved to them and pointed to the stove. "There's coffee and pancakes," she mumbled, cheeks full of food. "Barret went downstairs to do bar stuff."

Two-thirds of the carafe was gone. "How much of that coffee had you had?" Tifa asked.

"Enough that I've transcended tiredness and reached a higher state of being." Yuffie's feet tapped the ground with barely-restrained impatience. "I'm looking something up."

"Looking what up?" Aerith asked.

"What happened last night. Something's off."

Tifa peeked at the laptop. She expected to see a news website — the Midgar Mirage, maybe, though they weren't exactly the most reputable source around — but she saw 'SIMS: Shinra Internal Messaging System' on the screen instead. Tifa recognized the person on the account: a high-level Shinra publicist that often appeared on the news. "You won't get in trouble for looking that up here, right?"

"'Course not, I know how to cover my tracks," Yuffie scoffed. "I've been doing this for a long time."

Aerith came back to the table with two plates. "How long?"

"Since..." Yuffie stopped her chomping to think. "Eight years? Little while after the 'earthquake'." She used her fingers to make air quotes. "Gotta get my revenge any way I know how."

"So that's why you're such a menace?" Tifa teased. 

"I once broke into Rufus Shinra's summer home for kicks," Yuffie told them. "I even managed to get into his panic room. But that was just for fun." Yuffie gestured to the laptop. "This isn't. Something stinks here. I just need to sift through these messages to figure out what." 

Aerith sipped her coffee. "Isn't it weird that they locked the doors? The bank, I mean."

"That does seem counterintuitive, trapping everybody inside," Tifa muttered. 

"They're claiming the terrorists triggered the security system, but I looked into their logs and I don't see any evidence of their sensors going off." Yuffie leaned closer to the laptop. "It's driving me nuts. What triggered the doors?"

It wasn't a question that neither Tifa nor Aerith could answer. Yuffie tipped her chair back and reached for her coffee. "Do you think Sephiroth would be willing to give me his intranet login info? I bet you _anything_ they haven't revoked his privileges yet."

"Maybe if you ask nicely," Aerith said. 

Tifa tilted her head, confused. "Weren't you terrified of him yesterday?"

Yuffie shrugged. "Was I?" 

"I'm pretty sure he only came to the bar out of desperation. You'd have a hard time getting him to come back."

Aerith turned to her. "Didn't you say he liked the company?" 

"The _Lilim_ said he liked the company, and that Lilim needs a brain adjustment."

"Hmm." Yuffie tapped at the laptop. "I'll think of something else, I guess. Maybe I'll try guessing his password."

They finished their pancakes in silence. Yuffie showed no signs of stopping, but Tifa and Aerith had to get a move on, so they got ready in Barret's room. Aerith used the shower first while Tifa dismantled the fort and wrestled the thin mattress back onto the bed. They went about their usual morning routines. As Aerith pulled her hair into its signature ponytail, Tifa snuck small glances at her. The movement of her hair against her back was mesmerizing.

They took off down the stairs, leaving Yuffie, Marlene, and a purring, bow-covered Pudding behind them. Tifa walked Aerith to the front of the bar, where the frigid cold awaited her. 

"Are you going to the hospital?" Tifa asked.

Aerith wrapped her long white scarf around her neck. "Mhmm. Same routine every day. Get up, sell flowers, go to the hospital, come home." She shot Tifa a bright smile. "I'll come back after I'm finished." 

Tifa shuffled her feet while Aerith finished getting dressed. By the time she was done, Tifa could barely see her face. 

Aerith plopped her earmuffs on her head. "They know about you, you know."

Tifa's eyes widened. "They do?"

"Oh yeah, I told them all about you." She took off out the door before Tifa could press her further. "I'll be back in a few hours!"

As Tifa watched her run down the street, boots skipping on the icy sidewalk, the strangest feeling overcame her. She couldn't quite explain it, but it felt as if she was watching flowers bloom between slabs of concrete. Aerith disappeared around a building, and Tifa flew back inside, thoroughly chastened by the cold. 

Tifa ducked behind the bar, ready to start her routine, and noticed that everything was already in place. Her bottles were stocked, her glasses were clean, and her shakers were waiting for her. She found Barret in his office, phone open in front of him. "Good thing we're openin' today. A lot of people need the booze," he said to her. 

"Yeah, I bet." Tifa leaned against the door. "Thanks for setting everything up for me."

"Figured it was the least I could do after you deep-cleaned the place." His head snapped up. "Oh yeah! We've got a part-timer startin' today."

Tifa's jaw dropped. "A new employee?"

"Yep."

"You never mentioned that! Am I going to have to train them?!"

"I confirmed it a week ago. Had so much crazy shit happenin' that I completely blanked on it." Barret shook his head. "Nah, he can't make drinks. He'll just be... putterin'. Like Cloud does."

He couldn't make drinks?! Tifa didn't even know where to begin with that. "Have you heard anything from Cloud?"

"Not yet. Try textin' him."

Tifa stomped back to the bar and pulled out her phone. It took her a moment to find Cloud's name under her list of contacts — he was usually within shouting distance, so she never had any reason to text him. She changed his name in a fit of petty anger. 

> [Tifa] are you ok? where are you
> 
> [dumbass] yeah I'm coming back now
> 
> [dumbass] getting on the train

Barret had done such a good job of setting up that it left her with nothing to do. There was little on TV besides news stories and zany product informercials, so Tifa pulled out her phone in a rare display of boredom.

The front page of danger/u/ was much the same as it had been two days ago. 

> guys!!! white_r0se just leaked Sephiroth's hotel room
> 
> room 505 at the triton hotel in sector 5
> 
> have we learned nothing from last time?
> 
> fuck ya'll i'm goin
> 
> i got stuck in a vent but it was worth it and i'd do it again 

Oh boy. 

The first customer was, funnily enough, Cloud. He slid inside at 2:32 PM, a half-hour after opening... and the start of his shift. Tifa could tell by the droop of his shoulders and the silence of his steps that he knew he was going to get yelled at. 

What she _really_ wanted to do was hug him, but she settled for a rough shove instead. "Where have you been?! Have you slept?"

"Hospital, and no, not really," Cloud croaked. "Zack was in surgery all night."

"Surgery?"

"Yeah, he—"

Barret burst out of his office. The sound of Cloud's voice had clearly summoned him. "You sneaky little shit! You scared the hell out of us!"

"Sorry," he muttered. "I'll get changed—"

"No, you'll go have a nap." Barret pointed to the staircase. "You can sleep in my room. Ignore Yuffie, she's plannin' things."

Cloud glanced at Tifa. The sight of his tired eyes wilted her fury. She gave him a light shove — a more playful one this time. "We can handle this. Go sleep."

He shuffled to the apartment without complaint.

"There's pancakes in the oven! Go eat some before you fall asleep!" Barret yelled.

"Yeah, fine," Cloud mumbled. "Thanks."

Tifa turned to Barret. "You've become quite the mother hen."

"Feels like I adopted a ton of unruly shits." Barret turned back to the hallway. "I'll be in the back."

Another hour passed before Tifa got a single customer. She was ready to tear her hair out in boredom. Had they made a mistake opening for the day? Would she have been better off watching movies with Marlene? How long until Aerith came back from her hospital visit? Where on earth was the part-timer?

The door opened. Tifa stared as... something walked in. It took a second for Tifa to comprehend what she was looking at. On the floor, close to the ground, was a dog with red fur. He wore a tropical shirt and sunglasses.

Tifa's brow furrowed. "Um. Welcome to Seventh Heaven."

The voice that came from the dog was surprisingly smooth. Tifa had met plenty of talking dogs in her life — they had technology that translated their voice boxes — but she'd never met one that sounded so friendly before. "I'm here for orientation."

Barret came barreling back out of the office. His office door was taking a beating today. "You're here! Sorry for not touchin' base with you. Shit's insane."

The dog tilted his head in agreement. "The pandemonium last night was truly something to behold."

Why was this dog here? Was he the part-timer? Why was he wearing a tropical shirt? And sunglasses? Tifa turned to Barret, a thousand questions on her lips, and was greeted with the image of Barret over the moon with joy. "This is our part-timer," he told her.

"What exactly is he supposed to do?!" Tifa asked, incredulity tinting her words. She turned to the dog. "No offense."

"None taken." He stood up straighter. "I'm Nanaki."

"He'll putter around, like Cloud does. Fetch bottles. Fix things."

"He doesn't even have opposable thumbs!" She turned back to Nanaki. "No offense. I'm Tifa."

"None taken. It's nice to meet you."

"We'll find somethin' for him to do," Barret insisted.

"Why did you hire him?" Tifa hissed.

"Look at him! He's wearing a tropical shirt! And sunglasses!"

But _why_ was he wearing them? "We'll talk about this tomorrow," she insisted. Tifa let him go, now realizing that the situation was out of her control. She settled behind the bar to do the only thing she could do: mix drinks and change lives. 

The first person to walk through the front door, other than Cloud and their new part-timer, was a friendly face... and one that shouldn't have been moving around at all.

"Zack?"

"Hey. How's it going?" He looked down at Nanaki, who was busy counting Karmotrine bottles behind the bar. "When did we get a dog?"

"He's our new part-timer," Tifa explained. "But you—"

Tifa didn't know where to begin. Every inch of his body looked battered. His eyes were black, accentuating the vivid blue of his ocular implants. His swollen right cheek gave him a crooked smile. One of his teeth were missing. Every move he made seemed to be causing him pain.

"You shouldn't be—"

"I left the hospital early. Had to sign a bunch of paperwork. Cloud's gonna be pissed when he finds out." He limped forward. The sight of him clutching the back of the barstool for balance made Tifa's chest hurt. "Did he tell you what happened?"

No, he didn't, but Tifa knew by the sight of his hand, and his arm, and a good bit of his shoulder, if Barret's own prosthetic was anything to go off of. A cybernetic arm sat where Zack's real, fleshy arm had sat only days ago.

"Your arm," Tifa gasped. Her hands flew up to cover her mouth. 

He gingerly sat down. "Yeah, they fixed me up surprisingly quick. The painkillers they gave me aren't doing anything, though." He leaned on the bar and ran his new hand through his flat hair. "The surgery took hours. Does being under anesthesia count as sleep? I'm exhausted."

Tifa's hands flew for the Karmotrine. She whipped up the most decadent thing she could think of — a Sunshine Cloud, made up of two Adelhyde and two Bronson Extract, poured into a frosty round glass. Most of the shaker was taken up by Karmotrine, which Tifa hoped would be a better pain reliever than whatever the hospital had given him. Sunshine Clouds were a favourite of Marlene's when she was sick, and she hoped they would have the same effect on Zack. 

Zack downed a third of the bright orange drink before he spoke again. "Where's Cloud?"

"He's having a nap upstairs. You should go join him."

"Maybe after a few of these." He took another long sip. "Have you ever had chocolate milk? That's what this tastes like."

"I have," Tifa said. "Well, not the real kind, but close to it. I grew up in Nibelheim. We had a milk factory nearby."

He finished the drink and set it down. "I'm from Gongaga. They used to produce chocolate, but..." He looked at the drink. "They try their best now, I guess."

Barret came out of his office, seemingly to ask Tifa a question, and spotted Zack instead. "Holy shit! You're alive! I mean, I knew you were, but seein' you in the flesh is somethin' else."

Zack grimaced as he tried to smile. "Yeah, I'm still kickin'."

To Barret's credit, he didn't skip a beat when he spotted Zack's new arm. Only the slightest widening of his eyes told Tifa of his reaction. "New addition?"

"Yeah, they got it in pretty quick," Zack muttered, "quick enough that I didn't really have time to think about what it replaced."

Barret patted him on the back with his own prosthetic. "I know it's weird, but you'll get used to it. You might even prefer it. Did you know you can get different accessories for the hands? A guy I know replaced his middle finger with a corkscrew."

"Really?"

"Yeah! You can unlatch it at the elbow too. It's a fun party trick."

They chatted amongst themselves for a moment. Nanaki gently booped her on the leg with his nose. "We have fifteen bottles of Karmotrine. What should I count next?"

"The Adelhyde, please." With Nanaki's help, she wouldn't have to do any inventory today. He was quickly starting to grow on her. 

Barret went back into his office, and Zack turned back to the bar. Tifa set down a second Sunshine Cloud in front of him. 

"So, um, what happened was—" He coughed and clutched his chest. "Sorry, I broke a rib. I—"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Tifa insisted. "You're in a ton of pain."

"No, it's fine. I need to tell someone. Do you mind?"

Tifa shook her head. Half of her job was playing therapist to her patrons. 

He took a deep breath. "So we'd been securing the bank for days. To be honest, I thought the threats were fake."

"We all did," Tifa admitted. 

"So I'm managing the shift change for my team when they came in. I don't know how they did it, but they managed to get into the bank's security system," Zack explained. "My team tried leading everybody out and the doors wouldn't budge. The emergency exits were locked."

"Did they have demands?"

"All they said was they wanted Shinra disbanded. That was it."

"No gil?"

"Nope. Just some stupid demand that we couldn't meet." Zack rubbed his ribs. "Everything went nuts after that. Some of the hostages tried taking off, one of the guys said he had a bomb, everything just—" He reached for his drink. The glass clinked under his metal hand. "That bomb eventually went off. I got off lucky. A lot of my subordinates lost their lives in that blast."

Tifa had never felt more useless. There was nothing she could do for him... other than ply him with more drinks. "Do you know who did it? Which group?"

"They said they were the Harbingers, but I don't know," he said, referring to Neo-Midgar's most notorious insurgency group. "It just... feels weird. I can't explain it." He clutched his head. "That might be the brain damage, actually."

Just as Tifa was about to drag him back to the hospital, the door opened once more. Tifa just barely spotted Reeve before he flew up the barstools. "Thank gods you're open today." He turned to Zack. "Welcome back!"

"Thanks," Zack wheezed.

"A big Sugar Rush, please," Reeve asked Tifa. "I've had a hell of a day."

Tifa got right to work on it. Zack let out a breath, seemingly happy to let somebody else take over the conversation. "What happened at work?" he asked. 

"Well—" Reeve glanced at Zack. "Were you at the bank yesterday?"

"Yeah, kinda." Zack waved his new hand. "Go on."

"No big deal? You look like you've been run over by a truck!"

Zack looked like he desperately wanted to change the subject, so Tifa intervened. "Go on, Reeve."

Reeve gave up and grabbed his big Sugar Rush. He took a long sip before continuing. "The attack nearly took the plate down."

Tifa gasped. "What?"

"What?" Zack said.

"Titan Trust is right by the outer pillar," Reeve explained. "The first bomb they detonated wasn't enough to do it, but anything stronger would've killed thousands."

"And they didn't evacuate the sector?" Tifa asked, appalled.

Reeve shook his head. "We were under express orders to do nothing. Luckily, the second blast never came." He sighed. "My coworkers have some theories."

"What theories?" Zack asked.

"Well, the first one is that Shinra planned it," Reeve said, counting off his paws, "in an attempt to delegitimize the insurgency groups and get the city back under their heel. The second one is that the Unicorn Gang did it to try and get back their outer sector turf back from the Chocobo Gang—"

"It wasn't the Unicorn Gang, they were wearing Harbinger colors," Zack interrupted.

"I mean, anybody can put on red," Reeve shrugged. "Regardless, the Shinra one makes more sense. I don't want to believe it, but—"

"We all know what happened to Wutai," Tifa pointed out. 

"Yeah, exactly." Reeve's tail drooped. "We sure do."

"What will you do now?" 

"No idea," Reeve grumbled. "I want to reinforce the pillars, but I know HQ won't go for it." His whiskers slumped down in a show of defeat. "I'm so sick of this."

"Yeah, I know that feeling," Zack whispered.

Zack looked as if a thousand things were going through his mind. It was a bit early to take her break, but Tifa needed to do something to get him out of this situation. "Zack, I'm gonna take my break. Do you wanna come with?"

"What? Yeah, sure." 

Tifa whipped up another Sugar Rush and set it in front of Reeve, who was nearly done with his first one. She glanced down at Nanaki. "Could you hold the fort for ten minutes?"

"Take longer if you want, I can make my own Sugar Rushes," Reeve shrugged. 

"I'll take over for now," Nanaki told her. 

Tifa went around the bar and led Zack to the back door. It took a few moments, but he eventually made it outside, wheezing and grunting the entire way. His limp was noticeable, and it pained her to look at it. 

The back door led to a small enclosure. Tifa was the only one who used it in the colder months. Once they were outside, Tifa leaned against the brick wall, while Zack hobbled towards the abandoned bench that sat near the door. He sat down with a gasp. "Thanks for coming with me," Tifa said. "I thought you might've needed the break."

"Do you think he's right?"

Tifa glanced at him. "Reeve?"

"Yeah. That Shinra did it."

"I mean—" Tifa sighed. "Yeah. I do. It's not exactly out of character for them."

Zack slumped down and buried his face in his hands. It took him a moment to compose his thoughts. "I wanted to get into SOLDIER, you know."

"You and Cloud both," Tifa muttered.

"They go around to all the small towns and feed you stories of heroism." He stared at his new hand. "I don't know if you've ever been to Gongaga, but it's a wasteland."

Tifa couldn't help but laugh at that. There wasn't a place on Gaia that couldn't be considered a 'wasteland' nowadays. "The same as Nibelheim. We had recruiters come in all the time."

As she said that, she wondered how Cloud's story had ever escaped her. Plenty of Nibelheim boys had left for the city at the same time he did, for exactly the same reasons. A part of her figured he was too smart to fall for it, she supposed. Tifa had truly underestimated the powers of propaganda.

"I thought it was great. Had it all planned out. Become a Valkyrie, go into the Anti-Terrorism Unit and work my way up. SOLDIER before thirty."

He flexed the hand, over and over, as if he couldn't believe it was his. Tifa couldn't quite believe it either. How could he be here after having gone through such a tragedy? How was he still standing?

"Now I'm an accomplice to... whatever this is." Zack gestured to the plate that hovered above their heads. "You could've died. Cloud could've died. Aerith and that guy with the arm, he got his head stuck in my helmet—"

"Barret," Tifa provided.

"Doesn't he have a kid? I saw the pictures on his desk." His voice broke as he spoke. "She would've died too."

Tifa had always found it hard to forgive those who bought into Shinra's lies. How could they have been so stupid? How did they not see what was right before their eyes? But as she watched Zack, she discovered another side of Shinra's cruelty — of the dreams, hopes and desires that Shinra held in their grasp, stolen from children who didn't know any better.

She cautiously approached him. "I don't want to be weird, but..." She held her arms open. "Do you want a hug?"

For a second, he hesitated, until he crumpled right before his eyes. He didn't have a chance to speak before Tifa sat down beside him, opened her arms, and drew him into the tightest hug she had ever given another person.

The sensation of his silent sobs, wracked against her body, broke her heart into pieces. Before she knew it, Tifa was crying too — for the boys with dashed dreams, for those that suffered without ever truly deserving it, and for Marlene, who would inherit the life they had failed to improve. By the time they were finished, both she and Zack looked like disasters.

"They're going to wonder what we were up to," Tifa sniffed. 

Zack wiped his eyes. "We were watching cute cat videos on your phone," he croaked. "Do you think they'll buy that?"

"They were really cute stray cats," Tifa whimpered. "We just wanted them to find a good home."

Zack stood up and offered her his new arm. Tifa took it and got up from the bench. 

The bar they came back to was much different than the one they had left. Vincent and Cid sat off to the right, discussing something in hushed voices. Nanaki paced in from of them as he tried to make a drink with his limited mobility. Sephiroth sat on the other side of the bar, as far as he could get from the others. He looked profoundly irritated. Reeve stood beside him, shoulders squared, as he ranted about something. 

Tifa pointed to the hallway. Zack walked around the bar and headed upstairs. She sincerely wished she could join him. 

"Aren't you _tired_ of this?" Reeve growled at Sephiroth. 

Sephiroth clutched his head. "I resigned to get _away_ from this," he hissed back. "Do you even have a plan for what you're proposing?"

Reeve's tail drooped to the ground. "Well, not yet, but—"

Tifa saddled up to them. "Reeve, go lobby him another time."

"But—"

" _Go._ "

Reeve reluctantly slinked away to the other side of the bar. "Marsblast?" Tifa asked Sephiroth.

He nodded. Tifa snuck an extra shot of Karmotrine in his drink. She knew why he was here, and she knew exactly whose fault it was. "Did the fangirls find you again?"

He took the drink from her. "I'd prefer not to talk about it."

Fair enough. Tifa paced to the other side of the bar. "Sorry for making you guys wait." 

"I was about ten seconds away from grabbing that bottle of Karmotrine," Cid said, pointing to Tifa's station. "Kidding. Can I get a Suplex? I need something stronger after all that fuckery that happened yesterday."

"Can I get the drink I had last time?" Vincent asked.

What did he have last time? Right, a Sparkle Star. Tifa grabbed two clean shakers and filled them. "Why aren't you sitting with Sephiroth?" she asked Vincent.

"I know him well enough to know when he needs to be left alone—" Vincent turned to Reeve. "—Which is something I tried to advise you on, but you wouldn't listen."

Reeve's ears perked up. "I'm feeling feisty today. Channeling my inner cat." 

Tifa turned to Vincent. "How do you know him, anyway?"

"I knew his mother. We used to work in the same department when I worked for Shinra."

"You used to—" Cid cut himself off. "You're one hell of a mysterious Lilim."

Vincent simply shrugged in response. Cid and Reeve changed the subject back to the events of last night. They got rowdier with every sentence, with the exception of Vincent, who endured the conversation with the patience of a person who had lived through a thousand tragedies.

"Aren't we all sick of this?" Reeve asked.

"'Course we are. But what the hell are we gonna do? Take to the streets?" Cid asked. 

"That didn't end well for the last group that tried it," Vincent pointed out.

Reeve's ears drooped. "I don't know. I just want to do _something_. What if Shinra actually did it?"

He shrugged. "They probably did. The Shinra I once knew were definitely capable of such things." 

"Why are you talking like you're some sort of ancient god?" Cid asked.

"I'm a hundred and fifty years old."

Tifa's eyes widened. "What?"

Vincent nodded. "I used to be human before I fell victim to a Shinra scientist with no scruples. My brain transfer went better than most."

Reeve's jaw dropped. "You were turned into a Lilim _against your will?_ "

Vincent shrugged, as if he were describing the weather. "It was a long time ago. I'm inundated to my circumstances now."

Cid patted Vincent's back. "Sorry. That fuckin' sucks."

"It feels a bit weird standing here, knowing I'm doing this to myself," Reeve said.

"Artificial bodies come with their own benefits." Vincent gestured to Cid. "My doctor's visits are certainly much cheaper." 

True enough. Tifa walked over to Sephiroth and refilled his Marsblast in silence. As she reached for the Bronson Extract, Aerith came barrelling through the front door. She stopped dead at the sight of them all. "Wow, we're busy today." 

"Yeah, no kidding," Tifa muttered. Of _all_ the days Cloud couldn't work...

Aerith strolled over and sat beside Reeve. The sheer irritation emanating from Sephiroth's person made everybody give him a wide berth. "What are you having?" Tifa asked her.

"Um, good question. Can I have the menu again?" She looked down at Nanaki. "Hi!" 

"I'm the new part-timer," he explained.

"I like your sunglasses."

Tifa handed the menu to her. "If you're looking for something sweet, I'd recommend a Sunshine Cloud. That's what Zack was having earlier."

Aerith blinked in surprise. "Zack's here?"

"He's upstairs with Cloud. You might want to go say hi to him." Tifa grimaced. "He had a tough day."

"Okay. Can you make me a Sunshine Cloud? I'll be right back."

Aerith disappeared upstairs. As soon as Tifa put the finishing touches on the drink, she came back down with a distressed look on her face. Aerith sat back down and took the drink from her. "Does this have Karmotrine in it?"

"Just a little bit," Tifa answered.

"Can I get a bit extra?"

It seemed everybody was in need of extra alcohol tonight. Tifa took the drink and poured two extra shots into it. Aerith took it from her hands and sipped it greedily.

"We all know that feeling," Cid muttered.

"What's Yuffie doing upstairs?" Tifa asked.

"Doing something with her laptop, I don't know. She looked busy," Aerith answered. Half of the Sunshine Cloud was gone when she put it back down on the table.

"She's not coming down?" Tifa gestured, very subtly, at Sephiroth at the other end of the bar.

Aerith glanced over her shoulder and shrugged. "Doesn't seem like it. Maybe she figured it out without him." She finished the rest of the drink in one fell swoop and handed her glass to Tifa, who refilled it without a second thought.

"We were just talkin' about how much Shinra stinks," Cid told her.

"Really? Did we just figure that out?" Aerith asked.

"Obviously not, but this stinks more than usual," Cid replied. They quickly caught Aerith up on the plate problem. The blood drained from her face. 

"We have to do something," Reeve muttered.

"Can't you do something? You work for Shinra!" Aerith said.

"I'm a glorified doodler, I don't have any actual political power." Reeve's tail drooped on the counter. "I'm useless."

Nobody could quite argue with that, so they didn't even bother to try. Tifa wandered back over to Sephiroth and refilled his drink. His aura had dampened slightly since he arrived, but Tifa knew better than to try and make small talk with him. Nanaki finished the rest of his inventory count and showed the results to Tifa, who congratulated him on a job well done. 

Cid and Vincent stood up. "It's almost closin'," Cid said. "We'll talk about this tomorrow."

Reeve patted Aerith on the back before hopping off the counter. "Take it easy with those drinks," he advised.

"You can't tell me what to do," Aerith slurred.

Vincent walked over to Sephiroth and grasped his shoulder. "I'll be here tomorrow."

Sephiroth nodded. Tifa walked back over to him. "Ready to go?"

He pulled out his phone and paid in silence. Tifa was delighted to see that his tip was as big as it was on Monday. He left without another word.

As the bar emptied, she remembered something. She was supposed to invite them all to the Mega-Christmas party.

Oh well. They'd be back tomorrow.

"Tifa," Nanaki called, "I think she needs help."

" _Bad nerter_ ," Aerith sang. 

Uh oh.

"Bardnutter! I wan' another Shinesun Cloud."

Tifa dashed over to her, swiped up her empty glass and stuck it in the sink. She'd forgotten that Aerith didn't usually drink. "Absolutely not. You're cut off."

"They got more drinks than me," Aerith slurred, gesturing to the area where Cid, Vincent and Reeve had been sitting.

"One of them is a hundred and fifty pound man, and the other two aren't human," Tifa argued. 

"What does that matter?" Aerith laid her head on the counter. "Bat render."

"Tifa."

"I'm trying to be cute," Aerith pouted. "Bra denter!"

"No."

Barret came out of his office, ready to close the bar. The sight of Aerith made him stop in his tracks. "Somebody have too much?"

"A little bit," Tifa admitted. "My bad."

"Take her upstairs to sleep it off."

"I live two minutes away." Aerith moved to stand up and stumbled over her own feet. "Oh no—"

Tifa ran around the bar and grabbed her. "If I take her home, will you close up the bar?"

Barret shrugged. "Sure. I've got help now." He gestured to Nanaki. 

"Do you need an escort?" Nanaki asked. 

"No, it should be fine—" Tifa wrapped her arm underneath Aerith's shoulders. "I'll be back to pick up Pudding."

It took a few minutes to get Aerith in her winter gear, especially since she kept stumbling around, but Tifa eventually managed to get her bundled up. They took off into the biting outdoors.

* * *

Aerith lived two streets down from the bar. Her building didn't have an elevator, so Tifa had to haul her up three flights of stairs.

"We used to live in Sector 5," Aerith mumbled. "Had our own house. Had to..." She hiccuped. "Had to sell it to pay medical bills. But mama tried to say otherwise..."

Tifa fished the key out of her peacoat pocket and unlocked the front door. Aerith leaned against the hallway wall.

"She tried to convince me that we moved here to be closer to the hospital, but I'm not stupid..."

After a few seconds of fiddling, Tifa finally wrenched the door open. The first thing that greeted her was the scent of flowers.

The apartment was small, much like her own, and was crawling with all things Aerith. The decor was light and airy, with worn, oak furniture and pastel fabrics. Plants covered every spare surface. Beside the key bowl was a picture of Aerith, flanked by two women; one that looked just like her, and another that didn't. Tifa noticed, however, that the sandy-haired woman's smile was exactly the same as Aerith's.

"Those're my parents," Aerith slurred. "Mom," she pointed to the identical woman, "and mama. Names get confusin' sometimes."

Tifa raced to catch her as she stumbled forward. "Let's get you to bed."

Tifa dropped her off in the nearest bedroom — a room that was undeniably Aerith's, much like the rest of the place. Vibrant dresses were strewn around the floor, and flower-making materials covered her desk. A bundle of knitting materials sat on her pillow. Aerith tore off her winter coat and sank into the bed.

"I'm gonna get you some water," Tifa said.

"You're the best," Aerith smiled, lost in bliss. "You'd make a great wife."

Tifa didn't quite know what to say to that, so she took off for the kitchen. A cold pitcher of water sat in the fridge. Tifa grabbed it, set it on the counter, and started rifling around for a glass... until she spotted something that made her pause.

A vase sat on the kitchen counter, tucked away from view. The flowers looked more real than anything she had ever seen in her life. Tifa stroked the petals and squished them between her fingers. A floral fragrance filled the room — the same scent that always covered Aerith. 

"Honey," Aerith sang. 

Tifa shoved the vase back and walked back with the water. "Do you promise to stay put for the night?"

"Mhmm, I'll see you tomorrow," Aerith yawned. "Thanks."

She desperately wanted to examine the flowers some more, but she didn't have the time. Tifa gave them one last passing glance before she ventured back outside. 

* * *

The bar was closed when she came back, but Barret was kind enough to leave the lights on. Tifa raced through the bar and up the steps. She had twenty minutes to get back home before curfew began. 

Yuffie sat at the table, in the exact same position she was that morning. An empty dinner plate laid by her right hand. Barret sat on the living room couch.

"Are Cloud and Zack still here?" Tifa asked.

"Nah, they left," Barret said. "I offered to take care of Puddin' for the night. He's in Marlene's room."

Pudding was curled up on Marlene's bed. He looked quite comfortable, but Tifa couldn't bear the thought of spending a night without him. She quietly extracted him from Marlene's sheets and shoved him back in his cat carrier.

As she moved to leave, Barret stopped her. "Yuffie found somethin' interestin'." 

"I sure did," Yuffie muttered. "Come look at this."

Tifa put down Pudding's carrier and walked over to Yuffie. She had a variety of messages open on the laptop, including a very incriminating one, sent from from the Director of Public Safety to President Shinra.

"They're not done," Barret growled.

No, they weren't.

The Titan Trust bombing was only the first attack in a series of pre-planned terrorist events — attacks that, according to the director, were intended to dissuade Neo-Midgar's citizens from falling further into anarchy. The sentiments that Seventh Heaven's customers often shared had spread throughout the city. Every attack was intended to be stronger than the last, with the last attack—

"I can't believe this," Tifa gasped.

— designed to take down a plate.

"A week between each attack, give or take," Barret said. "They're bombin' a government facility in Sector 8 on New Years Eve. We're tryin' to figure out what to do."

"Spread it around?" The cracking of Tifa's voice made her sound desperate. "Tell people?"

"That's what I'm leaning towards, yeah," Yuffie said, voice thoughtful. "If people found out about this, they'd go nuts."

_"We have to do something," Reeve muttered._

Well, this was certainly something.

Barret patted her on the back. "You should get goin'. We'll talk about this tomorrow. Want me to walk you home?" 

"No, it's okay, thank you," Tifa murmured. She took off before anybody could argue with her. She needed to be alone. 

* * *

Silence Street was empty in the wake of the Titan Trust attack, but some of its retailers were still open. Tifa flew down the street, distracted by her turbulent thoughts... until she saw a plushie in a store window. With all that had been going on, Tifa had forgotten to get Marlene a Mega-Christmas present. 

Tifa walked to the plushie display and set Pudding down by her feet. He meowed in protest, but Tifa didn't intend to stay long. She picked out a fluffy chocobo plushie and walked to the cash.

As she set it on the counter, one of the nearby displays caught her eye. "How much are your necklaces?" Tifa asked.

"Hm? Those? About twenty gil," the clerk said. "They're two-for-one."

Tifa reached for the necklace on the very top of the display — a long, black cord, affixed by a gold flower charm. "I'll take this."

The cashier wrapped up her gifts. Tifa took off for the train. Pudding licked her fingers as she cooed to him on the ride home. By the time she got back to their outskirts apartment, she was exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to climb into bed and forget about the world for a few blissful hours. Tifa walked in and set Pudding's carrier beside the two sets of boots at the entranceway, let him out, checked his food bowl, and fell asleep. 


	6. Bad Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two Bronson Extract, two Powdered Delta, two Flanergide, and four Karmotrine. All on the rocks and mixed.
> 
> "We're nothing but mammals after all."
> 
> Sour, classy, and vintage.

Thursday, December 24th, 2108

Tifa woke up to the smell of bacon.

Wait. Why was she smelling bacon? Nobody ever cooked good food in her house.

For a second, she thought she was back at Barret's, but the pockmarked ceiling above her head was undeniably hers. She shoved her slippers on and went to investigate the strange smell. 

Cloud stood in front of the stove, happier than Tifa had ever seen him. Plates of bacon and pancakes sat on the counter — unburnt, so Cloud must've put actual effort into cooking them. He sensed her presence and whirled around to face her. The smile that graced his lips made Tifa's hair stand on edge. "Hey."

Tifa tried her best to keep the look of incredulity off her face. "You seem different."

He turned back to the stove. "What do you mean?" 

"Nothing," Tifa muttered, very slowly, as if she were in danger of scaring the demon possessing Cloud's body. She took her usual place in front of the kotatsu, kicked the heater on, and opened her phone. 

> **The Midgar Mirage**
> 
> **Your local source for 100% unbiased news**
> 
> **We're halfway towards our goal! Donate to our freedom fund today!**
> 
> Cait Toys Ltd. to release commemorative Sephiroth body pillow; pre-orders sold out within minutes of announcement
> 
> DC Project Blue pulls highly-anticipated VR cyberpunk game from stores; in-game death glitch responsible for the unexpected deaths of 2,000 Neo-Midgardians
> 
> After failing to capture chocobo on its own, Kalm hires Midgar man, who catches it in less than 24 hours

Another boring news day. Tifa glanced up at Cloud as he approached the kotatsu, breakfast and coffee in hand. The pancakes _did_ look quite good, but the fact that he made them terrified her. "Have you eaten already?" Tifa asked him. 

"Yep."

Tifa glanced around the room. It was then that she noticed something on the kitchen counter — two empty plates, covered in syrup. Cloud walked back to the kitchen and put them in the sink. Why would there be _two_ plates? Since when did Cloud cook good food?

The pieces started to knit themselves together.

"When did Zack leave?" Tifa asked.

"Just before you woke up," Cloud answered, without skipping a beat. He head snapped up as he realized the weight of his words.

Tifa gasped and lifted an accusatory finger at him. Zack stayed the night? Then— "You got laid last night."

She expected him to bristle at her words, but he just shrugged instead. "No idea what you're talking about."

"You totally got laid last night! Men are only this happy after they get laid!" Tifa lifted her arms in a celebratory cheer. "Congratulations!"

Cloud took off for his room without another word.

Tifa grinned and shoved the pancakes in her mouth. They weren't quite as good as Barret's, but they would do.

Her relentless teasing wasn't enough to dim Cloud's new shine. Things that would usually infuriate him beyond belief — the bitter cold, the crowded sidewalk, the constant train delays — didn't seem to bother him in the least. Tifa skipped beside him as they made their way down Silence Street, thoroughly enjoying his new outlook on life.

Barret greeted them as they walked in. "You look different!" he said to Cloud. 

Cloud shrugged and brushed past him. Barret turned to Tifa and whispered in her ear. "Holy shit. Did he fuck?"

Tifa grinned and nodded.

As Cloud made his way back to the bar, Barret caught him and patted him on the back. "I'm happy for you."

"Happy for what?"

"Nothin'."

Cloud frowned and walked away. The brightness in his eyes was impossible to miss, despite Barret's ribbing. 

Tifa turned back to Barret. "Is Yuffie still here?"

"Yeah, she stole my bed again last night. Marlene likes havin' her around," Barret replied. "We've been talkin' about what we want to do."

Right. About _that_. "Spread it around?" Tifa guessed.

"That's gonna be the start. See what happens and go from there. We've got some ideas." He turned back to his office. "No worryin' about that now! Let's get through the holidays first!" 

Nanaki emerged from the back storeroom. He pushed a box of alcohol with the tip of his nose. "Good afternoon."

Barret brushed past him. "He came in early," he said to Tifa. "Very punctual."

The thought of a _dog_ being _punctual_ baffled her. Tifa followed Barret into his office. "What's with all this?" she asked.

Barret leaned against his tiny desk. "I posted a job ad. He applied, and we got to talkin'. He's one of us. Y'know..." His voice lowered to a whisper. "The treasonous kind."

Tifa glanced through the open door at Nanaki, who was currently dragging a box of Karmotrine with his jaws. "He's a dog."

"Whose home got right fucked up by Shinra. He's in Neo-Midgar because we're the last bit of decent civilization left. He can't survive anywhere else."

Tifa wouldn't necessarily describe their dismal city in such generous terms, but compared to most of the world, Neo-Midgar had better amenities than most. It helped that all of Shinra's executives lived in the city. "Okay, so he's a rebel moonlighting as a bar hand..." 

"Not _'moonlightin'_. He needs the job."

"And what's with the outfit?"

"It's his uniform."

"Barret, none of us wear tropical shirts and sunglasses!" Tifa yelled. "Are you making him wear that because you think it looks funny?!"

"Doesn't it? Look at him! He's wearin' a tropical shirt! And sunglasses!"

Tifa whirled around and left his office. There was no reasoning with Barret when he got into his absurd ideas.

Her coworkers waited for her behind the bar. Cloud hummed with the music as he wiped some glasses. Nanaki was taking stock. "You don't have to wear that, you know," she told Nanaki.

"It's alright. The little girl upstairs was quite happy when she saw me. Much like him," he gestured to Cloud, "though I'm not sure what he's so happy about."

"He..." It wasn't her story to tell. "He's just having a really good day." She pulled out a clipboard from beneath her station. "Can you help me do inventory?"

Together, they got a head start on the day. Yuffie was the first customer... if you could even call her that, since the bar seemed to be her new home. Tifa couldn't remember the last time she paid for a drink, if she ever had at all. "Can I get a sugar drink? I need a refresher."

"Sugar Rush?"

"Yeah, that one."

Cloud whipped it up and slid it to Tifa before she could even reach for the Adelhyde. Yuffie took it and stared at Cloud, who showed no reaction to her penetrating look. "He's happy," she whispered.

Tifa shrugged. "Somebody has to be."

"Did he fuck?"

Tifa's glass slipped out of her hands. Nanaki dove underneath her and caught it. "What?!"

"That gleam in his eyes is unmistakable," Yuffie whispered. "I've seen enough TV dramas to know what that face means."

"You're wise beyond your years," Tifa muttered. She took the glass from Nanaki and stuck it in the closest dirty glass bin. "You're coming to the party tomorrow, right?"

"Obviously. Who else is coming?"

"Um—" Tifa realized she'd never asked Cloud. She looked over her shoulder. "We're having a party tomorrow at 7 PM."

It took him a second to realize she was talking to him. "Got nowhere else to be."

"Cloud's in," Tifa said. "Me, you, Barret and Marlene. Aerith said she'd come too."

Yuffie beamed from ear to ear. Tifa was pleased to see she was in better spirits than yesterday. "That's a good number. We can decorate tomorrow if you get here early!" She took her first sip of the Sugar Rush. "Why do they call it "Mega"-Christmas, anyway?"

"Something about Santa dying and getting resurrected as the Mega-Santa that saved us from some nebulous threat," Tifa shrugged. "A meteor or something. I really have no idea."

More people began to filter in as the day went on. Cid was the second customer to arrive. He threw himself in a chair with the dramatics that only an old man could pull off. "Bones are achin' today."

"Got any Mega-Christmas plans?" Tifa asked.

"You know I don't. Where the fuck would I go? Hang out with my plane?" He looked over at Yuffie. "Hey."

"We're having a party if you wanna come tomorrow," Yuffie chirped. "With chicken! Barret bought a lot of food."

"And cookies," Tifa added, "that we haven't baked yet."

Cid shrugged. "Sure. I'll bring a veggie platter."

Behind them, Cloud cleaned his station with a smile on his face. Cid's eyes widened as he took in the sight of Tifa's usually-sour coworker, now happier than any of them had ever seen him. "Did he fuck?"

Tifa nearly dropped her glass again. They _really_ had to stop that. "He, um—" 

"He has the face of a man who fucked to death recently."

"See, told you," Yuffie chirped. 

Cloud didn't react to a single word they said. His behaviour was truly starting to scare her. "Anyways—" She reached for her bottle of Bronson Extract. "Gut Punch, Cid?"

He nodded. As Tifa made it, Barret emerged from his office and clapped Cid on the back. "There you are. "I wanted to talk to you about somethin'."

"What's up?"

"How do you feel about open rebellion against our fascist government?"

Well, that was one way to put it. Yuffie sat up and whispered into Cid's ear. He recoiled at her words. "Those fuckers!"

"If we spread the news, we can prevent it," Barret said. "Then we'll go from there."

Yuffie punched the air. "We can use this bar as a base for our operations!"

"Plenty of people in this bar that want change. You heard 'em last night," Barret reminded him. "If they want a fight, we'll give it to 'em."

"When was the last time you fought anything?" Cid grunted, a look of disbelief on his face. "You're huge, but—"

Barret flexed his prosthetic. "This baby has a gun attachment! It's in the office safe."

That sentence seemed to tell Cid all he needed to know. He turned to Tifa and Cloud next. "You two in on this?"

Tifa didn't really like the idea of open rebellion, but their current situation was untenable. Marlene couldn't grow up in a world like this. She let out a deep sign before she spoke. "Something has to change. We can't let this happen." 

Cid gestured to Nanaki. "What about him?" 

"It was his idea to send the news out on the 26th," Yuffie piped up.

Nanaki paused his counting. "Children should be given the chance to celebrate."

"Think of Marlene," Barret told him. "You want her growin' up with this shit?"

Cid investigated his drink, deep in thought. The others waited for his answer with baited breath. "Didn't think I'd be joining a rebellion when I started coming here." He drained his Gut Punch in one go. "Fuck it. I'm in. Fuck Shinra!"

"Fuck Shinra!" Barret echoed. 

"Fuck Shinra!" Yuffie howled.

Reeve strolled in. "Shinra? I came here to get away from Shinra."

He scrambled up the barstool and took his usual place on the counter. Barret slapped his back, which sent Reeve sliding across the bar. "You're just in time! What are your thoughts on treason?"

He looked well and truly confused. "I mean, we all know my thoughts on treason. Why do you ask?"

Yuffie whispered in his ear. Reeve hissed in response, until she reached the end of her sentence. His ears perked up. "You in?" Tifa heard her say.

Reeve stomped his paws on the counter and took a battle stance. "I'll be the inside source!"

"Reeve, you draw for a livin'," Barret drawled.

"I'll do my best anyways!" 

Tifa made Reeve's usual Sugar Rush. He took it from her and drained it with gusto. The perkiness of his whiskers said everything — he drank the drink out of joy, instead of depression and desperation. Would there ever come a day when that would always be the case? He finished it off and looked around the room. "Cloud seems happy," he commented. 

Tifa sighed. "Yeah, he had a good day yesterday."

Reeve tilted his head. "Yeah, I bet he did."

Tifa glanced over her shoulder. "You're making it too obvious."

Cloud looked up from the glass he had been wiping... for the past five minutes. "What?"

"He's useless today." Tifa turned back to Reeve. "Do you have Mega-Christmas plans? We're having a party tomorrow at 7."

Reeve rubbed his chin. "I'm technically supposed to be at Sephiroth's farewell gala, but I could probably ditch it early."

"They're having a farewell party for him?" Barret grunted. 

"On a _holiday?_ " Yuffie asked.

"Shinra likes to remind us they're more important than our families," Reeve shrugged. "It's supposed to be a Mega-Christmas party too. Double the fun. I'll get to rub noses with Neo-Midgar's finest."

"You don't sound too excited about that," Cid said. 

Reeve gestured to himself. "Look at me. They usually assume I'm some sort of hired entertainment." 

"I know that feeling," Nanaki muttered.

The front door opened once more. Zack hobbled in, grimacing all the way. He was clearly still in quite a bit of pain, but the smile on his face was impossible to miss. Tifa lifted up the glass she was holding. "Congratulations."

"Er. Thanks?" Zack took a seat beside Cid and Reeve. "Can I get that drink I had yesterday? Karmotrine's the only thing helping my pain right now."

Cloud whipped it up before she ever got the chance. How did he know about Zack's new drink preferences? Tifa shook the thought off and turned back to Zack. "You're coming to the party tomorrow, right?" Tifa asked him.

"Yep. Already bought a gift." 

"We've got somethin' else to talk to you about," Barret said. "Remember what we were talkin' about yesterday? We figured out what we wanna do."

Yuffie sat up and whispered in his ear. The color drained out of Zack's face. "Um—"

Barret grasped his shoulder — that was now half-metal, thanks to his new prosthetic. Zack grimaced at the touch, as if it reminded him of the fact that the metal arm existed at all. "You could get revenge for this."

"I—"

"We could make the world a better place," Reeve said. "Think about how much better this city would be if Shinra was gone."

"World peace," Cid whistled.

"We could fix the ozone layer," Reeve told him. "No more roasting to death."

"We could restore Gongaga to its former glory," Yuffie added.

"I don't think anythin' could restore Gongaga, that place is a shithole," Barret drawled. "No offense."

What on earth were they planning? World domination? "Aren't we getting a bit ahead of ourselves?" Tifa asked. 

They paid her no mind. "C'mon," Cid goaded him. "Anarchy is fun."

Zack looked at Cloud, then Tifa, then Cloud again. The worry on his face didn't ease any, but he eventually acquiesced. "We have to do something," he nodded. 

"Atta boy!" Barret howled.

6 PM came, and the group dispersed. Barret left to go make dinner, and Yuffie took off upstairs to continue planning their rebellion. Cid and Reeve began to discuss what they were getting for Marlene, while Zack sat off to the side. Tifa slid him another Sunshine Cloud, which he took with visible relief. "Feeling better today?"

"I think it'll take a while until I'm whole again," he admitted, "but I'm getting there." He drained half of his drink and set it down on the counter. "I resigned from the White Knights today."

Tifa wasn't _that_ surprised, considering their conversation last night. "Did they say anything?"

"They were a bit disappointed, but it doesn't matter." Zack chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "My superior took me aside and told me I was being considered for SOLDIER. He wouldn't accept my answer at first."

"And you still resigned?"

"Well, it's like I said—" He gestured to Cloud. "We have to do something. Besides, I have other things I wanna protect now."

Tifa looked over her shoulder. She quickly caught Cloud's eye before he looked away, pink tinting his cheeks. "Yeah, I bet you do," she sighed. 

The night continued on, with Seventh Heaven's patrons getting more inebriated by the hour. Much like yesterday, they were all in dire need of relief, especially now that they were actively involved in an anarchist plot. Tifa was delighted to see their stress melt away right before her very eyes, though she could have done without Reeve running up and down the bar counter. 

"Are they usually this uproarious?" Nanaki asked her.

"It's usually depressing in here," she admitted. "This is quite the change."

"A good change, I think. They look like they have hope."

That they did. 

The next people to arrive were Vincent and Sephiroth; the latter looked like he wanted to leave the minute he walked in. Tifa couldn't quite blame him, considering the way Cid was acting, stomping the bar counter with his fist as he yelled about his hatred for Shinra. Nevertheless, they took a seat, as far away from the chaos as they could get, and Tifa walked up to them. "More fangirl trouble?"

Sephiroth actually answered her, which took Tifa aback. Today was truly a day for miracles. "They're reinforcing the security around my apartment."

"They're locking the vents," Vincent clarified. "May I have the usual?"

Tifa whipped up a Sparkle Star and a Marsblast. She couldn't help but notice that Cloud was doing his best to stick to the other side of the bar. "Are you two free tomorrow night?" she asked them. 

Sephiroth scoffed. "No."

"Tomorrow's Mega-Christmas," Vincent pointed out. 

"Yeah, we're having a Mega-Christmas party." Tifa turned to Sephiroth. "7 PM, if you feel like ditching yours."

Sephiroth didn't answer. Vincent, however, seemed mildly interested. "I have no plans."

Tifa shrugged. "The more, the merrier."

"I'll bring a veggie platter."

"Cid's already bringing one. Could you bring a dessert instead? You can never have enough of those."

"Very well."

Cid and Reeve stopped their stomping and slid across the bar. Any sane person would've known to leave Sephiroth alone, but Reeve was drunk on Karmotrine and his own hubris. He saddled up to Sephiroth and stood right in front of him. "You remember how you asked about my plan? I've got a plan now." 

The grumbling, yelling and hissing faded into the distance as the door opened once more. Aerith walked inside.

The first thing Tifa noticed was that Aerith's hangover looked quite good on her. The second thing she noticed was the large, triangular bundle of paper in Aerith's arms. It crinkled as she stepped forward. "Hey," she mumbled. 

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I drank a lot of water thanks to you." She cleared her throat. "Can I talk to you? Privately?"

Tifa turned to Cloud. "Can you cover for me?"

Cloud looked up from his station. "What?"

"He's got it." Tifa held out her hand to Aerith, who gently took it. "Follow me."

There weren't a ton of private places in the bar. Barret was back in his office, Yuffie was upstairs, Nanaki was in the storage room, and the front of house was filled with chaos. Tifa had no choice but to take Aerith to the back enclosure. The temperature had dropped ten degrees from yesterday, and Tifa hadn't thought to grab her coat. She could've taken Aerith to one of the bedrooms, she supposed, but it was too late now. "Sorry, we don't have a ton of options," she shivered.

Aerith, thankfully, was still dressed in her winter gear. "It's okay." She stared down at the concrete. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"About what?"

"About..." Aerith bit her lip. "... Getting messy."

"You dealt with my drunk texts," Tifa pointed out, "and I've seen much messier drunks."

"Really?"

"Brain in a jar."

Aerith furrowed her brow. "Well, I'm glad I acted better than, uh, them." She held out the bundle of paper. "I brought you something. Well, two things, but this one first—"

Tifa took the bundle into her arms. The paper was quite delicate, and great care had clearly gone into wrapping it. A familiar floral scent wafted through the open corners.

"Just be careful when you open it," Aerith advised her.

The package was fastened together by small bits of tape. Tifa slid her fingernail underneath the tape and gently lifted it up. Inside were yellow flowers — the most realistic flowers she had ever seen in her life. Tifa gently stroked the petals and felt a familiar softness. They were the same flowers that had been in the vase last night.

"They're real."

Tifa's head snapped up. "What?"

"I grow them." Aerith smiled, a bit bashful. "I'm the only person I know who can. Well, other than my mom. My mama tried, but hers always die." 

Tears gathered in Tifa's eyes as she realized the rarity of what she was holding — real, _living_ flowers, that had somehow blossomed in the face of adversity. "How?"

"My mom's been carrying the seeds for decades. We take trips out of town to collect the soil." Aerith shrugged, carefree, as if she were describing the weather. "They're the inspiration for my fake flowers."

Tifa's overwhelming emotions choked her. Aerith reached forward and took Tifa's hands in her own. The stems of the flowers dug into Tifa's fingers — a sensation that most in the city had never felt. 

"As long as we have these, there's hope in the world," Aerith insisted. "They're proof that things can still grow."

It took Tifa a moment to respond. "If we cultivate them," Tifa whispered. 

"Exactly." Aerith's hands squeezed hers. "You can't tell anybody you have these—" 

She never had the opportunity to finish her sentence. Tifa moved without thinking; one moment, her hands were clasped around Aerith's, and the next, they were dug into the front of Aerith's fluffy peacoat. The flowers between their bodies bore the brunt of Tifa's sudden kiss. 

Aerith gasped against her lips. Tifa moved to pull away, convinced she had made a mistake, until Aerith's right hand grasped her shoulder and pulled her in closer. The paper between them crinkled as they pressed against each other, as close as they could dare without crushing Aerith's thoughtful gift. Tifa's heart pounded in her chest as Aerith hungrily pushed back, one hand on the flowers, the other gripping Tifa's neck.

An eternity passed before they reluctantly parted. The hungry look in Aerith's eyes made Tifa's knees weaken. "I, um, got you a gift too," Tifa gasped, "but it's back at my apartment."

Aerith blinked rapidly. "Right, um—" She grabbed the flowers from Tifa and waved them around. "I should show you how to put these in water. How about we go there?"

Tifa nodded so quickly that it shook her hair out of her ponytail. "Yeah. Okay. Definitely. Good idea." 

She reached for Aerith's hand. Together, they dashed through the back door, on a mission to leave as soon as possible.

The scene that awaited them was incredible to behold. Cid and Reeve had left, leaving Sephiroth, Vincent and Zack as the only patrons. Sephiroth seemed in better spirits than Tifa had ever seen him. Cloud stood in front of him, vibrating with barely-suppressed anger. 

"You seemed different earlier," Vincent remarked, "though you're now back to much of the same."

Cloud's jaw clenched in response.

"Cid mentioned that you'd had an exciting development in your personal life recently."

Sephiroth scoffed. "Disgusting."

Cloud slammed his hands down on the counter. " _I hate you and I wish you were dead._ "

If that fact bothered Sephiroth, he didn't show it. He simply tipped his drink back and swallowed the last of his Marsblast. His empty glass hit the counter with a _clink_ that made Cloud's eye twitch. "Another."

Cloud growled and swiped it up. Tifa glanced at Zack, who was watching the show with an amused expression. She quirked an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged.

Well, it was time for revenge. Tifa tapped Cloud's shoulder. "I'm leaving."

Cloud's head snapped up. "What?"

"You didn't work yesterday, so I'm not working today," Tifa shrugged. "You're it."

"You're leaving me with him?!"

"I'm sure you can handle it." Tifa pulled Aerith around the bar. "Let's go."

* * *

The train ride back to the outskirts was the most exciting one Tifa had ever taken. Aerith's company lit up the car; the worn metal and torn seat covers seemed to disappear in her presence. The bundle of flowers, their own little secret, sat on their laps. The feeling of Aerith's hand in her own was the only thing keeping Tifa tethered to the planet. 

It wasn't until they reached Tifa's apartment that the bliss began to dissipate. Their apartment was an absolute mess, and neither Tifa nor Cloud had done anything to straighten it up recently. What if Aerith judged her knick-knacks?

"What's wrong?" Aerith asked.

"Um. I've got a lot of stuff," Tifa admitted.

Aerith shrugged. "You've been to my place. Haven't you seen all my fake plants?" She took the key out of Tifa's hand and opened the door herself. "C'mon!"

Tifa followed her and flipped the light on. Aerith paused in the middle of the living room. "Wow. You _do_ have a lot of stuff."

"Told you," Tifa muttered.

They tried their best to keep it tidy — or Tifa did, anyway — but it was nigh impossible with the amount of junk they had lying around. Lanterns hung from the ceiling. Posters covered every inch of the walls. Pudding slept on the kotatsu that Tifa had accidentally left on that morning, distracted by Cloud's strange behaviour. 

To Aerith's benefit, she didn't seem weirded out at all by it. She took the flowers from Tifa's hands and strode over to the kitchen. Tifa didn't really own any vases, because nobody did, so Aerith settled for an unused water pitcher she found in the cupboard. The flowers hung over the sides. 

"See? Aren't they pretty?"

They really were. The flowers' presence brightened up the room more than any trinket Tifa could ever buy. Aerith looked over her shoulder, waiting for her approval; the earnest smile on her face threatened to melt Tifa. "I, um—" She cleared her throat. "My gift's in my room."

Aerith lifted her eyebrows, and Tifa went beet red. "Not what I meant!"

Tifa dashed into her room. The cheap necklace sat in her jewelry box, far away from prying paws. Tifa didn't have anything to put it in, so she kept it in the plastic bag from the store. "It's just something stupid I saw on my way home from work."

The necklace was cheap and likely to break under pressure. It didn't even have a proper chain. Tifa didn't expect to get much of a reaction out of it, but Aerith handled it as if it were the most precious of jewels. "Can you help me put it on?"

Aerith lifted her ponytail. Tifa wound the cord around her neck and fastened the necklace at the front. The small flower charm sat in the dip of Aerith's collarbone. "It suits you," Tifa whispered, because it truly did. She couldn't quite believe she had ever seen Aerith without it on. 

The glisten of Aerith's eyes said everything. "I love it," she said, most genuinely. "Thank you."

That night, Tifa learned that Aerith showed her appreciation in many ways — some that were expected, like hugs and kisses, and some that were much _less_ expected, but still very much enjoyed. Tifa was a self-confessed workaholic, but as she took in the sight of Aerith in her bed, she couldn't think of anywhere else she'd rather be. 

* * *

"Where's the ring?"

Tifa's voice was muffled by her pillow. "Wha'?"

"The ring. The one I made you." Aerith sat up and turned to her. "Where is it?"

How was she not exhausted? They'd been at it for hours. Wild green eyes, framed by messy hair and kiss-bruised lips, met Tifa's own. "I'm not showin' you," Tifa insisted. She burrowed into the blankets. "I wrecked it."

For a moment, Aerith seemed like she was going to leave it alone... until she launched herself off the bed, taking the comforter with her. Tifa screamed as the warmth suddenly left her body. _"Aerith!"_

"I'll be right back!"

She wrapped herself in the comforter and took off into the kitchen. The fabric dragged behind her like some sort of magnificent cape. Tifa had nothing to keep her warm but a thin sheet, and by the time Aerith returned, she was shivering. 

Aerith giggled and climbed back onto the bed. Tifa sighed at the feeling of Aerith's wonderful body heat. "I nearly got caught!"

"Caught?"

"Somebody walked into the apartment. Cloud?"

"Probably pissed that I left him with his worst enemy," Tifa muttered. "What are you doing?"

"Give me your hand."

Tifa frowned and lifted her right. Aerith smacked it away. "Your left, dummy."

Aerith wound something around her ring finger. It was vaguely wet, as if it had been plucked from a vase. Tifa opened her bleary eyes and saw a new ring, made from a real flower, that looked nearly identical to the one hiding in her jewelry box. The tender gesture made her heart skip a beat. "It's gonna fall off, you know," Tifa breathed, "just like the last one."

"That's fine." Aerith pressed her lips to Tifa's fingers as she admired her work. "I'll just make you a new one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To my Clack/Zakkura readers: I'm thinking of writing an accompaniment to this fic that covers some of the off-camera Zack/Cloud scenes. It'd probably be called "March of the White Knight," after one of the songs in VA-11 Hall-A's soundtrack. Let me know if that's something you'd be interested in reading!


	7. Fluffy Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three Adelhyde, three Powdered Delta, and optional Karmotrine. All aged and mixed.
> 
> "A couple of these will make your tongue feel velvet-y. More of them and you'll be sleeping soundly."
> 
> Sweet, girly, and soft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my salty Discord friends for helping me brainstorm some of the gift ideas for this chapter! You all really saved my butt.
> 
> Merry Christmas to those that celebrate it! If you're stuck without your family and friends this year, I hope this rebellious gang of festive idiots can keep you company.

Friday, December 25th, 2108

Tifa's bed wasn't big enough for two people, but they made it work.

She woke up to the wonderful sensation of Aerith pressed against her. Her soft breath tickled the back of Tifa's neck. As Tifa turned around to wake her, Aerith stirred. Her eyes were just as brilliant in the dim light. 

"Good morning," Aerith whispered.

"More like afternoon," Tifa grinned.

"I'm already adopting your bad habits." Aerith sat up and stretched — a delightful sight, since she was buck-naked. "Breakfast? I'm hungry."

Tifa rolled onto her stomach and burrowed into her blankets. She wasn't quite ready to face the day just yet. "I can't cook," she mumbled. "Just eggs and chips. Let's stay here instead." 

Aerith got up and dressed herself in one of Tifa's baggy sleep shirts. "I'm sure there's some pancake mix left over from yesterday." She rushed back to the bed and slapped Tifa's behind. "Come on! Up!"

"But it's _cold_ ," Tifa whined. "I wanna cuddle."

Aerith threw another sleep shirt onto the bed. After a bit more whining, Tifa was dressed and ready to venture into the cold living room. "Is this what life with you is gonna be like?" 

"Yep!" Aerith grabbed her hand and dragged her forward. "Let's go—"

She opened the door... at the same time Cloud opened his. He and Zack paused in the doorway, eyes wide open in surprise.

The apartment fell silent as they stared at each other. Tifa had completely forgotten about her roommate. And the fact that she had just slept with his boyfriend's ex. 

"Well, this is weird," Cloud muttered. 

Aerith sighed. "What's weird? We're all adults!" She strode purposefully into the living room. "Who wants pancakes?"

Zack slid past Cloud. "I was gonna make pancakes."

"I'll make the mix, you can cook."

Tifa and Cloud met at the kotatsu and watched the chaos unfold.

It took two minutes before the situation turned disastrous. Aerith and Zack became embroiled in an argument over proper milk portioning. "The box says a quarter cup!" Aerith yelled. "It says it _right here!_ Can't you read?!"

"That's for B-grade milk! This is F-grade! It's thinner!"

"The box says it's fine!"

"The box is wrong!"

Aerith made a move for the milk, so Zack held it above her head. Even on her tippy toes, she couldn't reach it. "Give me the milk, you illiterate moron!"

Zack's grip on the milk slackened, sprinkling Aerith's head with pseudo-cow juice. Tifa turned to Cloud, who was watching the events unfold with a look of pure horror on his face. "Did you ever buy that new fire extinguisher?"

"Weren't you supposed to buy that?"

Was she? Tifa pulled out her phone. Maybe the news would distract her from the impending disaster—

> **The Midgar Mirage**
> 
> **Your local source for 100% unbiased news**
> 
> **We reached our target! Thank you Neo-Midgar!**
> 
> Neo-Midgar's finest prepare for Sephiroth's farewell gala; fashion updates coming tonight! 
> 
> Merry Mega-Christmas! Famous Author Buck Chingle drops new surprise book “Slammed in the Butt by Roofus Shenra’s Ruinous Love Affair with the Physical Manifestation of the Gil"
> 
> Midgar man has chocobo training license suspended after 23 chocobos test positive for cocaine

— Nevermind. These headlines were garbage.

Aerith and Zack's end result was _technically_ edible, but not something anybody would ever want to eat. They were barely recognizable as pancakes. Tifa, ever polite, choked them down with a smile on her face. Cloud couldn't quite hide his grimace. 

"Sorry," Zack muttered.

Aerith was covered in milk and pancake mix. Her hair was dusted a light beige. "Can I use your shower?"

Their guests were, thankfully, polite enough to clean up their mess. As Aerith showered, Tifa rifled through her closet for a good party outfit. She made it through three drawers before she realized she owned nothing but work clothes, sleeping shirts, and a fuchsia pink t-shirt that said "slut" in giant letters (that she'd bought as a joke).

"What are you doing?"

Tifa glanced over her shoulder. "Would it be weird if I showed up in my work uniform?"

"A bit, yeah. Are you looking for an outfit?"

"I don't own anything other than white button-ups and turtlenecks—" Tifa pulled something out of her drawer. "—And this sports bra, but I can't wear that in winter."

"I mean, I'd like it if you did, but I don't want you to get frostbite—" Aerith jumped. "Wait! One second!"

She flew out of the room. Tifa returned to her white sports bra. Was there some way she could jazz this up? Throw it in some red dye?

Aerith returned with her bag. "I left this in the living room. It's your Mega-Christmas present."

"Weren't the flowers my present?"

"No, those were an apology gift." She handed her the bag; whatever was inside was quite bulky. "I had to guess your size, so it might not fit, but..."

Inside the bag was a hand-knitted Mega-Christmas sweater; soft, cream-colored, dotted with little blue snowflakes. It was also absolutely massive. 

"I tried my best, but... your boobs made it a bit hard to eyeball your size," Aerith admitted. "I made it in a bit of a rush."

Tifa pulled the sweater over her head. It went halfway down her butt, but it was the coziest thing she'd ever worn. Besides, the fact that Aerith had knitted it for her made it perfect in her eyes. "I love it!"

"Great!" Aerith pulled out her phone. "Can I take a picture? My parents wanna see it on."

"Are you going to the hospital?"

Aerith fiddled with her phone settings. "Mhmm. I'm gonna stay there until five, then head over to the bar to decorate." She looked up at Tifa. "Aren't you gonna put pants on?"

"Could I go with you?" Tifa gestured to the sweater. "I don't think a picture could really do it justice."

Aerith put her phone away with a smile. "Yeah, you're right."

Tifa finally put some pants on, and they met Cloud and Zack at the door. "Heading out?" Tifa asked.

Zack pulled a knit cap onto his head. "We promised Barret we'd get a Mega-Christmas tree. His is busted."

"... It's Mega-Christmas," Aerith said, quite plainly.

"Where are you going to find a tree on Mega-Christmas?!" Tifa asked.

Cloud shrugged. "We'll figure it out. We were gonna get one yesterday, but we forgot."

Zack pumped his fist in the air. "We'll turn the city upside town until we find one! We made a promise!" 

They bundled up and took off. Tifa turned to Aerith, who looked like she was nursing a headache. "They're gonna pay a huge markup."

"That's their problem, isn't it?" Aerith threw her peacoat on. "Let's go."

* * *

Silence Street took on a whole new aesthetic during Mega-Christmas. The neon advertisements glowed red and green, tinsel dripped from every surface, and rainbow Mega-Christmas lights hung over the streets. Every now and then, a hover car would fly too low and shower the pedestrians below with broken lights. Mega-Christmas was a holiday of consumerism and over-consumption, which meant that Neo-Midgardians were eager to embrace it. And ultimately, it worked; even Tifa felt more cheerful, despite the carnage that laid only a few blocks away. The colourful lights and glittering tinsel did a brilliant job of masking the bloodstains.

The hospital was only a short walk from Silence Street Station. Tifa knew where it was, but had never been inside, since she and Cloud couldn't afford anything more comprehensive than a walk-in clinic exam. The sterile smell was the first thing that greeted her as she walked through the sliding doors. The second thing that greeted her were the absurd amount of holiday decorations. The hospital put Silence Street to shame. The front foyer had a massive tree that spanned two floors. The nurses wore reindeer headbands. An exceptionally chubby Mega-Santa waddled towards the children's ward. Was it sanitary to have so much glitter around?

"They like to go big in this place," Aerith said. "Come on!"

Aerith led her by the hand through the hospital. They went through so many wards, elevators and staircases that Tifa eventually lost count. As they strolled by nurses stations and doctor's offices, various workers called out to Aerith. She was clearly a constant fixture at the hospital.

"Is that your girlfriend?" one kind-looking nurse asked.

Tifa didn't have a chance to respond before Aerith piped up. "Yes!"

After a few more corridors, they eventually found themselves in front of a sliding door. The name "Ifalna Gainsborough" was visible from the sign on the entrance. "Mom, mama, we're here!"

The door opened to a sunny room, more homey than any hospital room Tifa had ever seen. Somebody had gone to the effort to drape the boring, blue furniture with blankets and pillows. Colorful pictures hung off of the walls. A TV, perched in the far corner, was playing a Mega-Christmas movie. The woman in the bed was the splitting image of Aerith, right down to the wavy hair and the enigmatic eyes. The woman who sat by the bedside didn't look like Aerith at all, but Tifa could still see the similarities in their behaviour. 

The woman in the bed laughed the moment they walked in. "I'm so sorry—" She covered her mouth. "— that sweater is so _big!_ "

Aerith huffed. "Baggy sweaters are in style nowadays." She turned to Tifa. "Right?"

Tifa nodded without even thinking about it. "The most fashionable ones go down to your knees."

"See? If anything, it's not long enough. I messed up." Aerith pulled Tifa forward. "This is Tifa!"

The smiles that greeted her were warm and loving. As the sandy-haired woman enveloped Tifa in a tight hug, something stirred within her that she hadn't felt in a long time. Tifa couldn't remember ever being hugged by her mother, but she imagined it would've felt something like that.

"I'm Elmyra." She gestured to the woman in the bed. "This is Ifalna, my wife."

"Aerith told us a lot about you," Ifalna smiled. 

The words slipped out without thinking. "She didn't tell you about how I got her drunk, did she?"

"Well, she messaged us to tell us about the nice bartender that brought her home," Elmyra shrugged. "She didn't spell a single word right."

Tifa glanced to her left. Aerith stared at the ground, red from head to toe. "It's, um—" Aerith cleared her throat. "Has everybody eaten yet?"

* * *

The ham sandwiches tasted divine in the wake of the pancake incident. Tifa gleefully enjoyed Aerith's embarrassment as Elmyra and Ifalna regaled her with stories of Aerith's childhood. They were in the midst of the 'Aerith tried to eat dirt' story when Aerith stood up. "We have to go and decorate the bar!"

Tifa let herself be pulled out of the hospital room. A question rattled around her mind, unanswered by her time at the hospital. Ifalna was ill, of course, but she didn't really look it. "Can I ask you something?"

They stood in the foyer of the hospital. Aerith paused in putting her mittens on. "Hmm?"

Tifa didn't quite know how to approach it. "Your mom is ill, right?"

It took a moment for Aerith to respond. "She has Nanomachine Rejection. She's having a..." She searched for her words, "... relapse, I suppose."

Nanomachine Rejection was the same disease that killed Myrna. Every being on the planet was infected with nanomachines, sent by Shinra to keep track of their movements... and some bodies couldn't handle the intrusion. Most cases could be held off with medical intervention, but in cases like Myrna's, it went undetected. Her death had been a surprise to everybody. Tifa would never forget the sound of Barret's voice when he called her to tell her the news.

"It's—" Aerith stared down at her hands. "It's genetic. That's what they think, anyway."

Tifa, in the midst of putting on her gloves, dropped them. Her stomach sank with horror. "What?"

"I'm okay, don't worry," Aerith smiled. "I get checked for it pretty frequently. It helps that I basically live in a hospital."

Tifa hadn't known Aerith for very long, but she could tell by her expression that Aerith was putting on a front. Her smile didn't reach her eyes. Of course she was worried — how could she not be? Tifa's bare hands reached for Aerith's clothed ones. "We're going to do something about it."

Shinra. The nanomachines. The dystopia that weighed down their lives. Tifa swore to herself that no matter what it took, she would work to fix their world, even if it killed her. 

Fire blossomed in Aerith's eyes. "We are. _Tonight_."

* * *

As they entered the bar, Tifa's phone went off. The picture that awaited her made her stomach hurt with laughter. Zack had sent her a photo (his preferred method of communication, apparently) of Cloud carrying a Mega-Christmas tree that engulfed him in size. The artificial bristles poked every inch of his skin. The look on his face was enough to drive Tifa and Aerith to tears. 

They went upstairs and showed Barret. "The hell is that?" he barked. "That thing can't fit in the fuckin' livin' room!"

"They probably paid a lot for it too," Tifa laughed. "They could've saved themselves so much trouble if they had gotten it yesterday."

"Dumbasses." Barret took their coats. "Marlene's playin' in her room. I'm gonna throw these coats in mine."

Tifa took hers and Aerith's presents and threw them into a corner. Aerith waited for her with a sheepish smile on her face. "I know I said I was gonna bring some cookies the other day, but I kinda forgot, so," she gestured to the kitchen, "we'll make a double batch?"

Well, whatever they made would be better than Barret's attempts. 

Barret left to go grab some extra supplies. By the time Yuffie arrived, both Aerith and Tifa were covered in flour. Aerith looked no different than she had that morning; the dust on Tifa's hair made her look quite old. "What the hell happened in here?" Yuffie asked.

"We're trying to make cookies." Tifa turned around and stopped dead at the sight of Yuffie. "What _is_ that?"

The gift that Yuffie held was positively _massive_. Yuffie had to lean sideways to greet them. "Whatever you do, don't ask me where I got this."

"Where did you get that?" Aerith asked.

"I may or may not have stolen it from the Director of Public Safety's Christmas tree," Yuffie answered immediately. "I have no idea what's in it. Surprise?"

The massive tag on it still said 'To Jimmy! Love, Daddy'. "You might want to hide the tag," Tifa advised. 

"Oh yeah, good point." Marlene came out of her room, summoned by Yuffie's voice, and screamed at the size of the gift. Yuffie had to strategically pivot to hide the name on it.

"Marlene, come help us ice these cookies," Aerith called. The few seconds of delay gave Yuffie the chance to rip the tag off and shove it in her pocket. 

They enlisted Marlene's help in making the second batch of dough. By the time they went into the oven, the first batch was ready to be iced. The sugar cookies came in all sorts of shapes and sizes: snowmen, snowflakes, Mega-Christmas trees, and one cookie that vaguely resembled Sephiroth with his giant sword. The cookie broke under Aerith's hands as she tried to ice it. "Damn."

Zack was the next person to show up. He bolted up the stairs and poked his head inside. "I'm just making sure we've got enough room for this thing." 

"The ceiling would have to be two feet higher," Tifa pointed out.

"It's fine! We'll make it work!" Zack yelled down the stairs to Cloud. "Let's go!"

It took both of their combined efforts to get the thing up the stairs. The bristles broke off of the tree as it dragged against the staircase walls, coating the stairs with tiny bits of plastic. The pungent smell of artificial evergreen filled the living room. "Kudos on them for making it realistic," Cloud grunted, as Tifa commented on the smell.

They leaned the tree against the wall. Barret was right — there was no way in hell that it would fit. Cloud stood up straight and admired his work. "Shit."

"What do we do?" Tifa asked.

"We could cut off the top?" Zack offered.

"But then you can't put the star on the top. That's half the fun," Aerith pointed out.

Yuffie wandered into the living room and stopped dead at the sight of the four of them standing around the tree, pondering its fate. "Where did you get that tree?!"

"Paid an insane markup at a Mega-Mart," Zack replied. "Last one they had left."

"We can't figure out how to fix it," Tifa told her.

"Cut off the bottom?" Yuffie shrugged.

"But then it can't sit in the tree holder. How is it supposed to stand up?" Aerith asked.

"Cut the middle? Take a chunk out and tape it." Yuffie walked up to the tree and showed them where to cut. "Like, right here. Then wrap it up with duct tape."

Nobody bothered to point out that Barret's old tree, now sitting in his bedroom, hadn't fared well from the same treatment. Cloud walked to the kitchen in search of a knife. Tifa and Aerith returned to their cookies, accompanied by the sounds of chaos from the living room.

"You're not doing it right! Give me the knife!" Yuffie yelled.

Tifa and Aerith glanced at each other, alarmed, and then turned back to the kitchen. They'd long learned that they couldn't save their friends from themselves.

"Alright!" Zack huffed. "That... that'll do!"

They gathered in the living room to look at the end result — a slightly crooked Mega-Christmas tree, still massive, that stood a foot away from the ceiling. The jagged bits of tree sat off to the side. Zack looked especially proud of himself. "Somebody go get Marlene! Time to decorate this thing!"

The boxes of Mega-Christmas decorations finally came in handy. Zack, Cloud and Yuffie rifled through them until they found the star that went on the top. Marlene arrived just in time to do the honours. Zack lifted her up so she could reach the top. "Is it on yet?" he asked.

"Not yet!"

As they struggled, Cloud attempted to detangle some of the lights. Yuffie pulled out some old bulbs and wiped the stray glitter on her pants. Once the star was on, they all descended upon the tree. The end result was ridiculously tacky — mismatched bulbs, flickering lights, some tinsel strands with bare patches — but to Tifa, it looked perfect. Everybody else seemed perfectly pleased with their work.

The third arrival was Nanaki, wearing a Mega-Christmas sweater and a Mega-Santa hat. He held a gift bag in his jaws. "I'm sorry for not bringing food. I didn't know what to buy."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have plenty." Tifa took the gift bag from him. "I like your outfit."

"Barret told me to wear it."

"Doggy!" Marlene ran up the hallway to hug Nanaki. The image was so cute that Tifa couldn't bring herself to lambast Barret on Nanaki's outfit requirements.

Barret arrived next, loaded with shopping bags. "Might've gone overboard a bit," he admitted. Tifa and Aerith put the cookies on plates and gave him space in the kitchen. They'd all agreed on a buffet-style dinner, eaten on paper plates in the living room, since they couldn't all fit in the kitchen. Truly the height of class. As Barret started work on dinner, he started inching towards the cookies. Tifa smacked his hand away. "What would Marlene say if she saw you eating dessert before dinner?"

"Yeah, I get it, stop guiltin' me," Barret mumbled. 

Cid arrived next, dressed in the tackiest Mega-Christmas sweater Tifa had ever seen. "The hell? Am I the only one dressed like this?" He glanced at Tifa. "That sweater counts, I guess."

"Nanaki's also dressed up." She took his gift from him. "Coats go in Barret's room."

"What happened to that tree?"

"We performed surgery on it!" Yuffie cheered. "How does it look?"

Cid pursed his lips and took off down the hall, evidently to spare them his true thoughts. Barret yelled to him. "Yo! Help me with dinner! You grill, right?"

"Not well," Cid admitted. Nevertheless, he washed his hands and joined the frey. They finished seasoning the chicken just in time for Vincent to arrive. 

His metal hands clinked against the doorknob as he entered. He wore his usual attire... except for a pair of massive reindeer ears that flashed multiple colors. "That tree seems off."

"I know, we—" Tifa waved her hand. "It's fine."

"Where do I put my dessert?"

"On the kitchen table." 

Vincent put his store-bought Mega-Christmas cake on the table and joined Cid and Barret in the kitchen. Tifa hoped it didn't have fake nuts in it. "I memorized some holiday recipes before I arrived," he told them. "I can measure out a quarter teaspoon with 99.9% accuracy."

As the night progressed, Marlene became more and more excited. The gifts underneath the tree were truly impressive; Yuffie's was half as big as the tree itself. "Daddy! Is it time yet?"

"Not yet! We're waitin' for one more!"

Tifa, Aerith, Cloud, Zack and Yuffie sat on the couch. The others had taken over the kitchen, leaving them with nothing to do. Marlene was playing with Nanaki in the corner, who seemed to be genuinely enjoying the experience. "Do you think Reeve is gonna come?" Cloud asked.

"I bet he's dying for a reason to leave," Aerith said.

"Isn't attendance mandatory? I remember hearing that somewhere." Zack turned to Cloud. "It's a good thing I left, by the way. I would've been working today if I hadn't."

Tifa didn't particularly want to talk about Shinra's many moral and ethical quandaries just yet, so she pulled out her phone to lighten the mood. If they couldn't make fun of Shinra, they could at least make fun of Neo-Midgar's best and brightest. "The Mirage is covering the red carpet. Wanna look at what Reeve has to deal with?"

They scrolled through the photos together. The fashion choices became more and more absurd with every swipe. The last image featured a particularly famous, vain socialite, wearing a bright green tulle gown that was six feet wide. Yuffie grimaced. "Man, rich people are weird."

At that moment, Reeve arrived, as if summoned by their shit-talking. They could hear him struggling outside, so Cloud jumped up to open the door. He was dressed in a cat-sized tuxedo. He also held a very tasty looking bundt cake in his arms. "Sorry I'm late. I stole this."

Tifa's jaw dropped. "You what?"

"They had a massive dessert table at the gala. Nobody even noticed it was gone!" Reeve handed it to Cloud, who took it to the kitchen buffet. "My rebellion is going great so far."

None of them knew what to say to that, so they didn't say anything at all. Barret smiled and smacked Reeve on the back, which sent him crashing to the ground. "Good on you for stickin' it to the man!" 

Reeve carried his gift in a massive bag that he dragged behind him. He handed it to Tifa, who put it underneath the tree. "Is this it?" she asked Barret.

"Must be," Barret shrugged. "Alright! Let's eat, then presents!"

They ate their dinner in the living room, accompanied by the sounds of cheesy Mega-Christmas CDs that Barret had fished out of storage. The mock-chicken wasn't half-bad, surprisingly, which was a sentiment everybody shared... except for Vincent, who wasn't equipped with the stomach upgrade to digest solids. He drank hot chocolate instead. They couldn't all fit on the couches, so Cloud, Yuffie and Nanaki sat on the floor. Marlene got the place of honour on Barret's favourite squishy armchair. 

"What gift do you wanna open first?" Barret asked.

"The big one!"

Yuffie turned around and stuck her tongue out. 

"Night's not over yet," Cid grumbled. "Don't get too excited."

Marlene had to be coaxed into eating the rest of her food. As soon as she finished her last bite of mashed potatoes, she jumped off of the chair. "Presents! Big one first!"

The present was bigger than Marlene herself. The gift-wrapping on it was immaculate (other than the ripped piece where Yuffie had torn the name tag off), and the ribbon detailing looked like something out of a movie. They watched patiently as Marlene dug her hands into the wrapping. Underneath it was a child-sized toy hover-car that lifted six inches off the ground.

"Wow!" Marlene cheered. 

"Holy crap, who got her _that_?" Cid asked.

Yuffie grinned. "See? I did a good job."

"The Director of Public Safety did a good job," Aerith muttered.

"Aren't I great?" Yuffie boasted. "Look at how happy she is!"

"This isn't a competition," Vincent pointed out.

"Yeah, but I won anyway."

"Say thank you," Barret insisted. Marlene ran up and gave Yuffie a big hug. "Thank you!"

The next gift was from Tifa — the toy chocobo plushie she had found on Silence Street. The toy was small, and Marlene already had a dozen of them anyway, but that didn't make her any less happy. She, too, got a big hug.

The living room was covered in gift wrap by the time she was done. Nobody quite lived up to Yuffie's gift, but some of them came close: Cid had gotten her a toy PHS system that spurted out kid-friendly catchphrases, interspersed by an occasional thirty-second ad. Cloud and Zack had gone in on a dollhouse that changed color with the press of a button. Aerith had gotten her an interactive storybook that read itself out loud. Vincent's gift was a toy that used nanotechnology to morph into different characters, including Shinra the Shark, Shinra's kid-friendly mascot.

None of them felt particularly comfortable about having Shinra merch in their house, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and Vincent had no idea that was one of the morphing options. "There's over thirty of them."

Reeve, however, couldn't claim ignorance. He had gotten Marlene a brand new child-sized Sephiroth doll, complete with a flowing mane that pooled on the floor. It even came with its own hairbrush.

"What? The one she had was in terrible shape." His tail puffed up as he hissed. "Don't look at me like that!"

Nanaki's gift finished the lot off. He had gotten her chocobo-shaped chocolate, aptly named Chocco-bos, that got devoured the minute Marlene unwrapped them. 

Yuffie had undeniably won the gift contest, which infuriated them all, because she hadn't even put any thought into her gift. Reeve came at a close second. Marlene amused herself by putting the Sephiroth doll in the hover-car, then promptly fell asleep on top of Nanaki, who took it like a good sport. Barret picked her up and put her to bed.

"She didn't even have any of the cookies," Aerith pouted.

"Or the bundt cake," Reeve muttered. "I went through a lot of effort to get that thing."

Dessert came next. The Mega-Christmas cake that Vincent had brought _did_ have fake nuts in it, but Barret knew better than to mention it. Tifa watched, amused, as he politely choked down a piece. "S'good," he insisted. 

Barret, Cid, Vincent and Reeve went off to clean up the kitchen. Tifa tried to insist on helping, but Barret just patted her head instead. "Kids shouldn't be doing chores on Mega-Christmas."

Tifa frowned. "Barret, I'm twenty-five." He walked away without another word. 

Tifa, Aerith and Yuffie were the only ones left in the living room. Yuffie fished a board game out of one of Barret's many storage boxes. "Where did Cloud and Zack go?" she asked.

Aerith shrugged. She shoved bundt cake into her mouth with one hand and moved a game piece with the other. "To go ge' anoth' Meg'Christm's tree?" she mumbled.

As the night wound down, they broke out the booze. Karmotrine went perfectly with eggnog, because it went perfectly with everything. Tifa had almost let her hair down when another person arrived at the door.

Tifa glanced around the room. Marlene, Cloud and Zack were missing, but other than them, they had everybody in attendance. "Who' tha'?" Aerith asked.

The first thing that greeted them was... a cake. The biggest cake Tifa had ever seen in her life. It was four feet tall, loaded with red and green frosting, and clearly intended to feed a banquet of a hundred than a party of nine. Yuffie gasped.

Two servers, still dressed in their uniforms, shuffled the cake into the house. "Where is this going?" they asked the person in the doorway. 

"Ask the host."

Sephiroth appeared, dressed in a tuxedo that was nearly identical to Reeve's. He had torn the front of it open; his bow-tie hung around his neck. Reeve flew up to him. "Did you take the gala cake?! Before they could even cut it?!"

"It's my cake."

'FAREWELL, SEPHIROTH' was spelled on its sides in immaculate cursive. It was the most gorgeous cake that had ever existed. Yuffie ran up to Sephiroth next. "Do you mind if I mutilate your cake?"

The blank expression on his face said everything. "I took it out of spite." 

"Cool, thanks!" She ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. "I'm gonna redecorate it."

The servers quickly ducked back out, having had enough of Sephiroth for the evening. Tifa walked up to him and held out her hands. "I'll take your coat." He handed it over, and she took it to the coat room. 

The room was pitch black... except for the shine of a smartphone. Cloud and Zack sat on the floor of Barret's room. Zack shot her a metal thumbs-up as she opened the door. 'He's calling his mom,' he mouthed. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cloud insisted. "Yes. Yes, mom. _Yes._ I work with Tifa now. Do you remember Tifa?"

She quickly threw the coat on the bed and let them be. 

Yuffie stood in the kitchen, armed with a butter knife. She carefully peeled the script off of Sephiroth's cake, intent on replacing it with something else. Tifa noticed she'd found the rest of the cookie icing that Tifa had stuck in the fridge.

Cid and Reeve hovered around her. "Your handwriting is shit," Cid told her. "Let me do it."

"I know what I'm doing! Buzz off!"

"You spelled 'Merry' wrong," Reeve pointed out. 

"You buzz off too! Go decorate your lame bundt cake!"

The others settled in the living room. An open bottle of Karmotrine sat on the coffee table; Barret grabbed it and put a liberal dash into his eggnog. Vincent offered Sephiroth a cup, and he reluctantly took it. He had clearly not intended to stay long, but for some reason, he was still there. Barret laughed as he said something about the gala. Tifa was happy to see Barret having a good time, even if it was fuelled by Karmotrine and strange company. 

Cloud and Zack eventually emerged from the bedroom and were offered their own libations. The weight of Barret's stare made Cloud sit down without complaint. 

Vincent regaled them with his stories. "So, I have a friend who's a vending machine—"

After that, even Cloud couldn't help but laugh. There wasn't much room on the couch, so he sat on the floor, nestled between Zack's legs. Cloud smiled and looked up for Zack's reaction. The earnest joy on his face once terrified Tifa, but now, she relished in it. If there was anybody who deserved to finally find love, it was him. 

Cid and Reeve joined them once they were satisfied with the new cake. It sat on the kitchen table, the centrepiece of their holiday dinner. 'MERY MEGA-CHRISMAS' was spelled on its surface in jagged, imperfect cursive. 

Tifa wandered over to the kitchen and leaned against the windowsill. In front of her was her strange family: people brought together by nothing but conflict and circumstance. People that had suffered under Neo-Midgar's relentless cruelty, and had collectively decided to do something about it. People that Tifa loved with all of her heart. People that she would do anything to protect.  
  
Off to the side, out of view, Yuffie picked up her laptop. She busied herself with putting the finishing touches on their first blow against Shinra: the emails that were programmed to send at 12:01 AM. Only ten minutes to go.

Aerith picked up two glasses of eggnog and strolled over to Tifa. As Tifa watched her walk across the apartment, dressed in her holiday finest, she had the sudden realization that she might see that same image for the rest of her life. That the feelings she felt would be hers for eternity. The hugs, the kisses, the tender smiles and whispered words, and the flowers, their symbol of hope. 

Aerith settled beside her and handed her the eggnog. "Ready?" she asked.

Tifa reached for her hand. "If you are."

A week ago, Tifa was a different person. She was certain that, no matter what happened, the world she woke up to tomorrow would be much different than the world from yesterday. 


End file.
